General Studies Paper 2

Introduction

• Exactly three decades ago, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act of 1993 mandated the inclusion of “women and minorities” in clinical trials in a bid to reduce health disparities. Yet, to date, the male model of medicine is thriving, and so is the tendency of treating women as smaller men despite a growing body of research insisting on physiological differences (beyond the reproductive organs) between the sexes. The genetic and epigenetic differences between men and women are also extensively documented.

Generic drugs, trials, mental health

• In India, the “pharmacy of the world”, the gender disparity in clinical trials has even bigger implications, thanks to generic drug production and consumption.
• It has been demonstrated in various studies that women’s bodies respond differently to the components of generic drugs.
• It was clear in clinical trials that nearly one-fifth of medications showed a difference in the active dose between men and women.
• It is not just about treatment but also testing and diagnosis where women have been getting a rough deal.
• The study firmly notes that depression rates and the prevalence of anxiety are higher for women than for men worldwide in general.
• Like depression, cardiac issues are now acknowledged as having a slightly more prevalence in women. Yet, they continue to be diagnosed and treated like ‘lesser men’.
• Study after study demonstrates that women are less likely to receive appropriate medications, diagnostic tests and clinical procedures even in developed countries such as Canada and Sweden.
• The stereotype of the “hysterical woman” continues to haunt women even when they need urgent clinical interventions.

Gaps that can be linked to apathy

• The exclusion of women from clinical trials and research projects addressing sex-agnostic critical illnesses such as cancer and heart disease has resulted in a limited understanding of sex-specific symptoms and responses to treatment.
• When it comes to sex-specific illnesses such as breast or endometrial cancers, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and pregnancy-related issues, there are serious gaps in research that can only be explained by an apathy towards “women’s only” issues.
• United States-based studies show that the funding received for research in migraine, endometriosis and anxiety disorders is much lower in proportion to the burden of these illnesses.
• World Health Organization data from 2017 show that “every day about 808 women die due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth”.
• Pregnant women are further down the ladder of representation in clinical trials and research.

Government Initiative to Ensure Health Facilities to Women

• Health and Wellness Centres: India has about 76,000 health and wellness centres which perform screening of 5 types of health issues; hypertension, diabetes, breast cancer, oral cancer and cervical cancer.
• Adolescent Friendly Health Services Program: Rastriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram is there where female adolescents are sensitised about their health. The programme also focuses on reaching out all adolescents including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ).
• Auxiliary Nurse Midwife: Auxiliary Nurse Midwife, commonly known as ANM, is a village-level female health worker in India who is known as the first contact person between the community and the health services.
• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY): Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY)is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Health Mission (NHM). JSY is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme and it integrates cash assistance with delivery and post-delivery care.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): PMMVY is a scheme for pregnant women and lactating mothers. Is a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme under which cash benefits are provided to pregnant women in their bank account directly to meet enhanced nutritional needs and partially compensate for wage loss.

Way forward

• In an equitable world, women would be accepted as an individual category, with race, age and class as subcategories. And an equal amount of time and resources would be spent in finding and providing treatment and health care.
• India’s G-20 presidency may be an opportune time to highlight this issue in alignment with Sustainable Development Goals on women’s health.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Three States, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana, have deferred a proposal, approved by the Centre’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), to test a new kind of transgenic cotton seed that contains a gene, Cry2Ai, that purportedly makes cotton resistant to pink bollworm, a major pest. This conflict shows that a broad acceptance of genetically modified crops continues to be elusive.

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)

• The GEAC consists of a panel of plant biotechnologists and is headed by a senior official of the Environment Ministry and co-chaired by the scientist of the DBT.
• To resolve the issue of States not according approvals on testing, because of differing attitudes to GM crops, the GEAC is considering a proposal by the DBT to declare some regions across India as ‘notified testing sites’.
• There are 42 such proposed sites and, if it goes through, companies wanting to conduct trials of GM crops at these locations won’t need the permission of States for trials.

Status of transgenic crops in India

• There is an array of crops — brinjal, tomato, maize, chickpea — in various stages of trials that employ transgenic technology. However, cotton remains the only transgenic crop that is being commercially cultivated in India.
• After a long hiatus, the GEAC, the apex technical body approved the environmental release of Mustard hybrid DMH-11 and its parental lines, for seed production and testing. This is one step away from full commercial cultivation.
• However, the GEAC, which is under the Union Environment Ministry, isn’t the final arbiter in the case of GM crops. There is a long-standing litigation in the Supreme Court on the permissibility of allowing transgenic food crops in farmer fields based on petitions filed and asking for a stay on the release of the crop because it would encourage farmers to spray herbicides, which are banned in India.
• In 2010, the GEAC had approved GM brinjal, but this was put on an “indefinite moratorium” by the United Progressive Alliance government.

Process of regulating transgenic crops in India

• The process of developing transgenic crops is an elaborate one as inserting transgenic genes into plants to elicit a sustained, protective response is a mix of both science and chance.
• There are multiple safety assessments done by committees before they are cleared for further tests in open plots of lands, which are located at either agricultural universities or are plots controlled by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• A transgenic plant can apply for commercial clearance, only after it has proven to be demonstrably better than comparable non-GM variants on claimed parameters (for instance, drought tolerance or insect resistance) without posing ecological harm to other species that may be being cultivated in the vicinity.
• Open field trials often take place over multiple crop seasons, and types of geographical conditions, to assess its suitability across different States.

Advantages of GMO crops

• It improves production and raises the farmer’s income.
• It reduces the use of pesticide and insecticide during farming that might be great moves for the betterment of the food supply.
• It can feed a rapidly increasing population because it shows dramatically increased yields.
• It can produce more in small areas of land.

Disadvantages

• The production imposes high risks to the disruption of ecosystem and biodiversity because the “better” traits produced from engineering genes can result in the favouring of one organism. Hence, it can eventually disrupt the natural process of gene flow.
• It increases the cost of cultivation and is more inclined towards marketization of farming that works on immoral profits.
• The transgenic crops endanger not only farmers but also the trade, and the environment as well.
• The current safety assessments are inadequate to catch most of the harmful effects from the GM crops. Moreover, the regulatory regime in India about GM crops has never been assessed thoroughly about the GM risk assessment in Indian conditions.

Way Ahead

• The challenges linked to GM crops need to be addressed by governments, especially in the areas of safety testing, regulation, industrial policy and food labelling.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

New York City’s air quality was recently among the worst in the world due to smoke drifting from the wildfires in Canada.

Cause of the wildfires

• According to a study published in Nature on February 10, 2023, lightning is the main precursor of natural wildfires. Laboratory experiments and field observations have together revealed that lightning electric currents that flow for more than some tens of milliseconds, the so-called long-continuing currents (LCC), are likely to produce fires.
• The study indicated an increase in the total global lightning activity and global LCCs by the 2090s.
• The same study also found that LCC lightning activity increased by around 47% over land, implying a higher risk of lightning-ignited wildfires in the future.

Working of the lightning

• During a storm, water droplets in warmer air and ice crystals that condensed in cooler air coalesce together to form thunderstorm clouds (usually cumulonimbus clouds).
• Contact between these droplets and crystals produces a static electrical charge in the clouds.
• The negative and positive charges in the clouds build up. Over time, the voltage difference becomes high enough to surmount the resistance presented by the air, leading to a rapid discharge of electric charge. This is what we see as a lightning flash.
• It can occur between oppositely charged surfaces within a thunderstorm cloud or between such surfaces in the cloud and on the ground.

Lightning as a climate indicator

• Long-term changes in lightning patterns reflect, at least in part, changes wrought by the climate crisis. The World Meteorological Organisation recognises lightning to be an essential climate variable that contributes critically to the way the earth’s climate is characterised.
• This said, that It needs to be emphasised that lightning-climate relationship based on data for short periods, and different regions, in the present climate cannot always be used as a proxy for future global warming.
• According to a publication, lightning also produces nitrogen oxides, which react with oxygen in the air to form ozone, which is a strong greenhouse gas.

Lightning strikes in India

• Of late, lightning strikes have been the deadliest natural disaster in India. There were 18.5 million lightning strikes in the country between April 2020 and March 2021 – 34% higher than the previous year – according to the Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council.
• Per a report of the Lightning Resilient India Campaign, 90,632 people died by lightning between 1972 and 2019. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, India had 2,875 deaths due to lightning in 2019, rising marginally by 2021.
• The private weather-forecasting company Skymet has reported that Odisha recorded the most strikes among India’s states in 2019.
• It also said that most such deaths in India happen because people living in villages seek shelter from lightning under tall trees, which are more likely to be struck.

Issues related to mitigation of lightning related casualties:

• There is no national-level policy to tackle lightning fatalities except for providing a lump-sum ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased person.
• The Odisha government provides 4 lakh per deceased person to the next of kin from SDRF.
• Other State governments provide lump sum Ex-gratia to the deceased person’s family.
• These policies are not adequate to minimise deaths due to lightning.

Way Forward:

• Inclusion of lightning as a natural disaster: The Centre should include lightning as a “natural disaster” to minimise lightning-related deaths.
• Hazard Mapping and targeted public interventions: In addition, some critical measures where public intervention is an absolute necessity include mapping vulnerable populations with potential lightning hotspots, improving early warning systems, and installing lightning detection systems in the local areas.
• Frequency database of lightning strikes: Moreover, the government should prepare a database related to the frequency of lightning strikes, gender-wise lightning deaths, and occupation-wise fatalities at the district, state and central levels for devising an action plan against lightning strikes.
• Training and community awareness programs: More than 70 percent of deaths from lightning occurred amongst people standing under tall trees; therefore, training and community awareness programs are essential measures to minimise deaths due to lightning.

General Studies Paper 2

Introduction

• Canada and India have long-standing bilateral relations built upon shared traditions of democracy, pluralism and strong interpersonal connections. The deep cultural and political ties between Canada and India are strengthened by a growing network of official dialogues, agreements, memoranda of understanding and working groups.

India-Canada Bilateral Relations

• India established diplomatic relations with Canada in 1947.
• Bilateral Mechanisms: Both sides pursue bilateral relations through the dialogue mechanisms such as Ministerial level- Strategic, Trade and Energy dialogues; Foreign Office Consultations; and other sector specific joint working groups (JWG).
• Commercial relations: Both sides are engaged in technical negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) including trade in goods, services, investment, trade facilitation etc.
• Major Items of Indian Exports are: Medicines, Garments, diamonds, chemicals, gems and jewellery, petroleum oils, made-up, sea food, engineering goods, marble and granite, knitted garments, rice, electric equipment, plastic products, etc.
• Major items of Canada’s export to India are: Pulses, fertilizers, newsprint, aircrafts & aviation equipment, diamonds, copper ores and concentrates, bituminous coal, wood pulp, nickel, unwrought aluminium, asbestos, God, cameras, lumber, ferrous waste, etc.
• Nuclear Cooperation: Indo-Canadian relations deteriorated in the wake of India’s Smiling Buddha nuclear test of May 1974. However, in June 2010, a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) with Canada was signed and came into force in September 2013.
• Indo-Canadian Science and Technology cooperation:
• Department of Biotechnology under IC-IMPACTS program implements joint research projects in health care, agri-biotech and waste management.
• The Department of Earth Science and Polar Canada has started a programme for the exchange of knowledge and scientific research on Cold Climate (Arctic) Studies.
• Space: ISRO and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) signed two MOUs in the field of exploration and utilisation of outer space in October 1996 and March 2003.
• ANTRIX, the Commercial arm of ISRO, has launched several nanosatellites from Canada.
• ISRO in its 100th Satellite PSLV launched on 12 January 2018, also flew the Canadian first LEO satellite, from the Indian spaceport Srihari Kota, Andhra Pradesh.
• Security and Defence: India and Canada collaborate closely in international fora, particularly through the UN, Commonwealth and G-20.
• Agriculture: The first meeting of the JWG set under this MoU was held in New Delhi in 2010, which led to the creation of three sub-groups on knowledge exchange in emerging technologies; animal development and agricultural marketing.
• Education: Education is a key area of mutual interest. Recently India became the top source of foreign students studying in Canada.
• People-to-People ties: Canada hosts one of the largest Indian diasporas in the world, numbering 1.6 million (PIOs and NRIs) which account for more than 4% of its total population.
• Cultural Exchanges: Canada was the Country of Focus at the 48th International Film  Festival of India held in Goa in November 2017. There is also an India – Canada Coproduction Agreement in films.

Challenges

• India’s structural impediments: India still has to overcome structural impediments such as complex labour laws, market protectionism, and bureaucratic regulations.
• Inadequate trade: While India–Canada economic relations have made some progress, Canada remains an insignificant trading partner for India.

Way ahead

• India-Canada relations have struggled to prosper, despite the two countries sharing various complementarities such as their democratic character and association in the Commonwealth. India must foster a deeper understanding of Canada and the potential it holds for India.

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• For a State which takes immense pride in consistently coming at the top in the health index rankings of NITI Aayog every year, the findings of the ICMR-INDIAB study, which puts Kerala right on top with the worst overall indicators for long-term morbidity and mortality due to non-communicable diseases (NCD), has come a cropper.

Non-communicable diseases (NCD)

• Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors.
• The main types of NCD are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
• Causes are Tobacco use, unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and air pollution are the main risk factors contributing to these conditions.
• According to WHO, over 60.46 lakh people died due to NCDs in India in 2019.

Kerala’s case study

• Kerala has known since the mid or late 90s that NCDs are going to be its biggest health challenge.
• A current diabetes prevalence of nearly 24%, pre-diabetes at 18.1% and hypertension prevalence at a whopping 44%, is certainly not the picture of a healthy State.
• With more than half the State’s population having high cholesterol levels and abdominal obesity, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney diseases could skyrocket in the near future and have significant impact on the State’s health expenditure as well as private spending on catastrophic illnesses.
• Experts point out that the high incidence of chronic kidney disease in the State is a direct consequence of the spiraling levels of hypertension, which again is a result of poor adherence to the drug protocol, apart from factors like unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle.

Suggestions

• Diabetes management requires the patient to have fair awareness on what makes the blood sugar spike. Limiting carbohydrates, improving nutrition through the increased consumption of vegetables and fruits and daily physical activity are important lifestyle interventions that patients need to imbibe.
• Patients also have to be given affordable choices when it comes to diet and medication advice. Adherence to medication has to be ensured through consistent follow-up and people have to be motivated continuously to ensure that the changes they embrace become a part of their lifestyle.
• Health workers or ASHAs in the field need to be trained better to impart awareness at the grassroots, to follow-up patients rigorously; they should be offered attractive incentives for the same.

Indian initiatives for tackling NCDs

• National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM).
• The Central Government is implementing the Strengthening of Tertiary Care Cancer facilities scheme to support the setting up of State Cancer Institutes (SCI) and Tertiary Care Centres (TCCC) in different parts of the country.
• Oncology in its various aspects has a focus in case of new AIIMS and many upgraded institutions under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
• Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) Deendayal outlets have been opened at 159 Institutions/Hospitals with an objective to make available Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases drugs and implants at discounted prices to the patients.
• Jan Aushadhi stores are set up by the Department of Pharmaceuticals to provide generic medicines at affordable prices.

Way forward

• Identifying the scope of the problem and documenting it is the easy part. But stepping in with effective interventions to increase public awareness about NCDs and its long-term consequences and-improving primary prevention of diabetes and hypertension through the promotion of a healthy lifestyle is where most health systems falter.

Conclusion

• The problem is not unique to Kerala. It is a huge challenge to health systems-to create, implement and sustain programmes for the promotion of healthy lifestyles because it is not easy to change people’s attitudes towards self care, their long-term food habits or to inculcate new habits like daily exercise.

General Studies Paper 2

Introduction

• Public protests have long served as a catalyst for social and policy change in India, allowing individuals, classes and communities to voice their grievances and advocate for their rights. Over the past few years, protests have risen with bewildering rapidity. Protests had opened up space for a new era of social activism in the decade.

From Nirbhaya to the present

• In December 2012, people around the world watched as thousands took to the streets in the Central Vista of New Delhi following the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student (Nirbhaya). The protests became so intense and the public outrage was so great that the UPA government was compelled to address issues of sexual violence at the policy level, through the introduction of the new Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 to bring stricter punishments and broaden the scope of offences.
• Fast forward to May 2023. Medal-winning wrestlers, who have brought honour to the country, have been on the streets for nearly four months to demand the arrest of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief who they have accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers and a minor. But the authorities did not respond for weeks. It took the Supreme Court of India’s intervention for Delhi Police to file two first information reports (FIRs).

The protests

• Protests under the current regime are, no doubt, difficult as they are immediately branded as ‘anti-national’.
• activists might feel the futility of protests against a government that does not listen; but the fact is that this regime has been forced to respond to some protests even if it has done so for reasons of political expediency.
• The withdrawal of the controversial farm laws and the back-tracking over the contentious National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) are two recent examples where the government had to back down.

The context of class politics

• Wrestling is deeply ingrained in Indian culture and has a long history, particularly in the rural areas.
• The protesting wrestlers mostly come from modest economic backgrounds; sports has helped them to achieve a measure of social and economic mobility.
• The active participation of the middle classes in the Anna Hazare Andolan (2011) and Nirbhaya protests presents a contrasting picture that highlights the importance given to social activism by this class.
• Their participation in the two movements catapulted them to the centre stage of the political discourse
• The urban middle class is also very well disposed to neo-liberalism; it has benefited from the opportunities available to it from the neo-liberal economy in the past three decades.
• Indeed, middle-class expansion has occurred since economic reforms through the private sector boom powered by economic liberalisation. This is the class that was enamoured by ‘India Shining’.
• Their shifting political loyalties, however, reflect an ideological consistency that characterises the middle class in its combined devotion to neo-liberalism and Hindutva.
• The middle-class opposition to the UPA played a crucial role in discrediting it; now, these very classes strongly back the current dispensation and see no reason to go against it, even on issues of sexual violence.

Conclusion

• Middle-class activism tends to prioritise the issues and concerns that directly impact them, often overlooking the needs and struggles of the disadvantaged classes and communities. This self-focus can perpetuate inequalities and hinders efforts to address broader social issues. Failing to consider the intersections of class, caste, gender, and other factors can result in a narrow understanding of social reality and marginalised voices.

General Studies Paper 2

Context

To unlock the full potential of India’s future, we have to prioritise the health and nutrition of its adolescent girls.

Adolescence

• It is a pivotal period of cognitive development and, therefore, improving access to nutrition during this “second window of opportunity of growth” compensates for any nutrient deficiencies acquired during early developmental stages in the girl child.
• Furthermore, adolescent health is a significant indicator of women’s labour force participation in India in the long term, as better nutrition improves every young girl’s prospect to participate in productive activities.
• Thus, the country beholds a colossal opportunity to add to its nation’s demographic dividend by investing in nutrition interventions in adolescent girls.

Ever-growing nutritional concern

• Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to undernutrition and anaemia due to the onset of menstruation. The findings of the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) confirm these concerns, as a staggering 59.1% of adolescent girls were found to be anaemic.
• There has been reports that 41.9% of school-going girls as underweight, the numbers showcase a worrying trend.
• What makes the situation more complex is the fact that a range of factors, from environmental conditions to cultural norms that lack a gender-neutral environment within a household, affects the nutrition uptake in adolescent girls.

Concerns

• Poorly balanced and insufficient diets can lead to cognitive impairments that affect one’s academic performance. This can result in lower educational attainment, which can limit opportunities for employment and economic self-sufficiency later in life.
• Undernourished adolescent girls are also at a higher risk of chronic diseases and pregnancy complications, which can lead to a higher health-care burden on both families and communities, potentially leading to financial instability and increased poverty.
• If our girls are less healthy and less educated, they are less likely to participate fully in society, whether through work, politics, or community involvement.

Redefine the interventions

• Therefore, it is imperative that we redefine interventions such that we not only centre it around good nutrition but also adopt a life-cycle approach, ensuring that no girl gets left behind. Additionally, a few strategic modifications to existing interventions can significantly expand the scope of its outcomes.
• The convergence of various government initiatives such as the Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) within the umbrella of the Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition programme (POSHAN) 2.0 is a step in the right direction, provided it is implemented effectively.
• Targeted adolescent-oriented schemes such as the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) could include even stronger awareness and nutrition education programmes that would help sustain beneficiary compliance.
• Targeted and regionally contextualised Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) efforts around adolescent girls’ nutrition are sure to generate greater demand and the adoption of good practices.
• For improved outcomes, it is very imperative for effective convergence and collaborations among all the relevant departments, in a way that fosters a collective endeavour.
• Routine training of health workers for effective implementation and monitoring of various schemes, and to adapt with an evolving landscape, is also a crucial step in this process.

Conclusion

We have an enormous responsibility, as well as a tremendous opportunity, to ensure the welfare and the upliftment of the nation by prioritising the nutritional needs of India’s girls. The strength of a nation is measured by its ability to nurture its future generations; hence, let us work collectively to sow the seeds of a healthier, stronger India, where every girl can reach her full potential.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

Thousands of neuroscientists use fruit flies to study learning, memory, sleep, aggression, addiction and neural disorders – not to mention cancer and ageing, processes of development, the gut microbiome, stem cells, muscles and the heart

Diptera

• Flies and mosquitoes both belong to Diptera, the group of insects that have only two wings.
• The Order Diptera (true flies) includes many common insects such as mosquitoes, midges, sand flies, blowflies and the House Fly.
• Most of the insects we see flying around do so with four wings (two pairs), but dipterans (meaning ‘two wings’) use only one pair. The other pair of wings is reduced to club-like structures known as ‘halteres’ that they use for balance.

Common characteristics of the order include

• One pair of wings (forewings)
• Hindwings reduced to club-like halteres
• A large and moveable head
• Compound eyes that are often very large
• Sucking, piercing and sucking or sponge-like mouthparts (all adapted for a liquid diet)
• The mesothorax (middle segment of the thorax or mid-body) is enlarged, with the prothorax and metathorax small
• Complete metamorphosis, with larvae (maggots) that are always legless, with chewing mouthparts or mouth-hooks, and that often pupate within a hardened case (puparium)

The fruit fly or vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster)

• The species Drosophila was first mentioned by German entomologist Johann Meigen in 1830 and has since earned a celebrity status among scientists.
• It has become the best-understood animal organism on the planet and a powerhouse of modern medical research.
• Drosophila melanogaster has been used as a model organism for over a century.
• Mutant-based analyses have been used extensively to understand the genetic basis of different cellular processes, including development, neuronal function and diseases.

Helping science

• Morgan was not the first to work with Drosophila. But his idea to harness the fly’s cheap husbandry (pieces of banana kept in milk bottles), and rapid reproduction (one generation in about ten days; about 100 eggs per female per day) would make it possible to study evolution in the laboratory.
• His mass-breeding experiments with hundreds of thousands of flies led to the discovery of a single fly with white eyes, instead of the red eyes fruit flies normally have. Morgan and his team’s subsequent studies of its white-eyed progeny revealed that genes can mutate and are arranged into orderly and reproducible maps on chromosomes (a long DNA molecule). It led to an understanding of how genetic disease is inherited.
• In the 1940s, scientists, including George Beadle and Edward Tatum, established that some gene codes for proteins can facilitate chemical reactions and produce the molecules needed in cells.
• Scientists can study mutant defects, even if the eggs never hatch, which can then inform us about the normal function of the affected gene. These kinds of genetic studies of Drosophila, combined with emerging technologies, such as gene cloning, helped us understand how gene networks can determine the development of a body and how they can sometimes cause inherited disorders.

A startling likeness

• The common ancestor that founded the evolutionary lines of flies and humans, half a billion years ago, appears to have been equipped with biology so well-designed that many of its aspects are still maintained, such as mechanisms of growth or neuronal function.
• Because we are so alike genetically, many aspects of human biology and disease have been explored first in Drosophila. Meanwhile, research on fruit flies is fast, cost-effective and extremely versatile. It’s ideal for scientific discoveries.
• It is used by neuroscientists for studying learning, memory, sleep, aggression, addiction and neural disorders. Not to mention cancer and ageing, processes of development, the gut microbiome, stem cells, muscles and the heart.

Conclusion

Fruit flies hovering in your kitchen might be aggravating, but hopefully you will see them in a different light now.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)’s latest decision, to extend the pause in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s monetary tightening while staying focused on the withdrawal of accommodation, reflects the rate setting panel’s reassuring resolve to keep inflation front and centre of its approach to policy.

Details

• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das was unequivocal in asserting that “the best contribution of monetary policy to the economy’s ability to realise its potential is by ensuring price stability”.
• The MPC’s recent unwavering focus on price stability is informed largely by its mandate to achieve the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation target of 4%, a goal that it has struggled to actualise right since January 2021.
• Specifically, Mr. Das flagged the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall during this monsoon in the wake of El Niño conditions, unabated geopolitical tensions, uncertainty over international commodity prices including those of sugar, rice and crude oil, and the volatility in global financial markets as upside risks to the MPC’s inflation projections.
• Another key factor feeding into the RBI’s policy approach is its conviction that macroeconomic fundamentals have strengthened after the unrelenting focus on preserving price and financial stability.

RBI’s Monetary Policy

• Monetary policy refers to the policy of the central bank – ie Reserve Bank of India – in matters of interest rates, money supply and availability of credit.
• It is through the monetary policy, RBI controls inflation in the country.
• RBI uses various monetary instruments like REPO rate, Reverse RERO rate, SLR, CRR etc to achieve its purpose.

Expansionary and Contractionary Monetary Policy

• The monetary policy can be expansionary or contractionary.
• An expansionary monetary policy is focused on expanding (increasing) the money supply in an economy. An expansionary monetary policy is implemented by lowering key interest rates thus increasing market liquidity.
• A contractionary monetary policy is focused on contracting (decreasing) the money supply in an economy. A contractionary monetary policy is implemented by increasing key interest rates thus reducing market liquidity.

Main goal of Monetary Policy of India

• The primary objective of monetary policy is to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth. Price stability is a necessary precondition for sustainable growth.
• To maintain price stability, inflation needs to be controlled. The government of India sets an inflation target for every five years. RBI has an important role in the consultation process regarding inflation targeting. The current inflation-targeting framework in India is flexible in nature.

Flexible Inflation Targeting Framework (FITF)

• Now there is a flexible inflation targeting framework in India (after the 2016 amendment to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934).
• The amended RBI Act provides for the inflation target to be set by the Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank, once every five years.
• The Central Government has notified 4 per cent Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation as the target for the period from August 5, 2016, to March 31, 2021, with the upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent and the lower tolerance limit of 2 per cent.

Conclusion

• Price stability is after all a public good and achieving durable disinflation must remain a non-negotiable goal, especially amid widening income inequality and high levels of joblessness.

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• Despite daunting challenges to Nepal’s democracy, governance and stability and seemingly intractable bilateral irritants, the Prime Ministers of Nepal and India have shown that a pragmatic approach and mutual sensitivity can re-energise bilateral relations.
• The Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s first bilateral visit to India since assuming office in the current term is notable in this sense. Driven by challenges presented by the post-COVID-19 world, current realities as well as huge opportunities, India and Nepal were able to review the entire spectrum of the bilateral agenda covering political, economic, trade, energy, security and developmental cooperation.

India-Nepal ties

• Nepal occupies a special significance in India’s foreign policy because of the geographic, historical, cultural and economic linkages/ties that span centuries.
• India and Nepal share similar ties in terms of Hinduism and Buddhism with Buddha’s birthplace Lumbini located in present day Nepal.
• The two countries have close bonds through marriages and familial ties, popularly known as Roti-Beti ka Rishta.
• The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations that exist between India and Nepal.

Areas of Cooperation Between the Two Countries

• Trade and Economy: India remains Nepal’s largest trade partner, with bilateral trade crossing USD 7 billion in FY 2019-20.
• Connectivity: India is looking to develop the inland waterways for the movement of cargo, within the framework of trade and transit arrangements, providing additional access to sea for Nepal calling it linking Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) with Sagar (Indian Ocean).
• Defence Cooperation: Bilateral defence cooperation includes assistance to the Nepalese Army in its modernisation through the provision of equipment and training. India from 2011, every year undertakes a joint military exercise with Nepal known as Surya Kiran.
• Humanitarian Assistance: Nepal lies in the sensitive ecological fragile zone which is prone to earthquakes and floods causing massive damage to both life and money, whereby it remains the biggest recipient of India’s humanitarian assistance.
• Multilateral Partnership: India and Nepal share multiple multilateral forums such as BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal), BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), Non-Aligned Movement, and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) etc.

India-Nepal Projects

• Mahakali Treaty (6,480 MW)
• Upper Karnali Project (900 MW)
• Arun Three projects (900 MW)
• Seti River (SR6) project

Challenges

• Territorial Disputes: One of the main challenges in the Indo-Nepal ties is the Kalapani boundary issue. These boundaries had been fixed in 1816 by the British, and India inherited the areas over which the British had exercised territorial control in 1947.
• Issues with Peace and Friendship Treaty: The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship was sought by the Nepali authorities in 1949 to continue the special links they had with British India and to provide them an open border and the right to work in India. But today, it is viewed as a sign of an unequal relationship, and an Indian imposition.
• China’s Intervention: In recent years, Nepal has drifted away from India’s influence, and China has gradually filled the space with investments, aid and loans.
• Internal Security: It is a major concern for India as the Indo-Nepal border is virtually open and lightly policed which is exploited by terrorist outfits and insurgent groups from North Eastern part of India e.g., supply of trained cadres, fake Indian currency.

Way Forward

• The need today is to avoid rhetoric on territorial nationalism and lay the groundwork for quiet dialogue where both sides display sensitivity as they explore what is feasible. India needs to be a sensitive and generous partner for the neighbourhood first policy to take root.
• India should engage more proactively with Nepal in terms of people-to-people engagement, bureaucratic engagement as well as political interactions.