Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Scientists in the United States have, for the first time, achieved a net gain in energy from a nuclear fusion reaction, seen as a big step forward in the decades-old endeavour to master a technology that is considered the most dependable source of energy in future.

• Fusion is a different, but more powerful, way of harnessing the immense energy trapped in the nucleus of an atom.
• This is the process that makes the Sun and all other stars shine and radiate energy.
• Attempts to master the fusion process have been going on at least since the 1950s, but it is incredibly difficult and is still at an experimental stage.
• The nuclear energy currently in use across the world comes from the fission process, in which the nucleus of a heavier element is split into those of lighter elements in a controlled manner.
• In fusion, nuclei of two lighter elements are made to fuse together to form the nucleus of a heavier atom.
• A large amount of energy is released in both these processes, but substantially more in fusion than fission.
• For example, the fusion of two nuclei of a heavier isotope of hydrogen, called tritium, produces at least four times as much energy as the fission of a uranium atom which is the normal process of generating electricity in a nuclear reactor.
• Besides greater energy yield, fusion is also a carbon-free source of energy, and has negligible radiation risks.
• But fusion reactions happen only at very high temperatures, 10 times the temperature that exists at the core of the Sun, and creating such an extreme environment in a laboratory requires huge amounts of energy.
• So far, the energy released in such experimental fusion reactions have been lower than what is consumed to create the enabling high temperatures.
• At best, some of these reactions have produced ‘near break-even’ energies. That is why the latest experiment conducted at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is being considered a big deal.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Described by scientists as “the most sophisticated cell engineering to date,” an experimental treatment would provide the teenager Alysaa a new lease of life, defeating her seemingly incurable cancer.

About T-Cell blood cancer

• T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL).
• T-ALL affects the stem cells in the bone marrow that produce a particular kind of white blood cells (WBC) called T lymphocytes (T cells).
• These cells provide a person immunity by killing cells carrying infections, activating other immune cells, and regulating the immune response.
• At least 20% of these WBC are atypical– as they accumulate in the bone marrow, they crowd out “good” WBCs and hence weaken the immune system.
• These unhealthy cells can also accumulate in other parts of the body like the liver, spleen and lymph nodes.
• While found in both children and adults, T-ALL’s incidence decreases with age.

How is T-ALL typically treated?

• Similar to any leukaemia– chemotherapy and stem cell/bone marrow transplant.
• Chemotherapy – either kills the cancerous cells or stops them from further dividing.
• It may also wreck immunity system along with it.
• If chemotherapy fails, bone marrow transplant is done.
• Patients receive an infusion of healthy bone marrow cells that will hopefully multiply and restore immunity.
• Overall treatment for T-ALL is pretty effective– children have a survival rate of over 85 per cent after five years of receiving this treatment.

What is the experimental treatment Alyssa received?

• In May, Alyssa, from Leicester in UK, began a trial where she received a dose of healthy T-cells from a donor that would hopefully attack her cancerous cells without destroying each other. 
• Known as CAR-T therapy, this principle has been around for a while, but Alyssa’s case was different.
• Traditionally, CAR-T therapy involves adding a gene to T-cells that causes them to seek out and destroy cancerous cells. 
• The modified cells are known as CAR-T cells. First, an individual’s own T-cells are removed, which are then modified and reintroduced to the individual. 
• The problem with such an approach (besides the expense) is that very often, when an individual is really sick, it is simply impossible to obtain enough healthy T-cells to create CAR-T cells.
• While donors can provide healthy T-cells to an individual, these T-cells from a foreign body are going to attack every single cell in that patient’s body, making the treatment counterproductive.
• Thus, scientists have resorted to what is known as base editing– through this technique of genetic editing, they make it possible for one donor to supply T-cells to multiple recipients, without the traditional risks associated with it. 
• Thus, Alyssa received genetically modified cells that were programmed to specifically attack her cancer while leaving the rest of her body alone.

What is base editing?

• Bases are the language of life. Just as letters in the alphabet spell out words that carry meaning, the billions of bases in our DNA spell out the instruction manual for our body.
• With advances in genetic technology, scientists have been able to zoom into a precise part of the genetic code to alter the molecular structure of just one base, effectively changing its genetic instructions.
• A team at the Great Ormond Street Hospital managed to use base-editing to create a new type of T-cell from a healthy donor that would not attack other cells in Alyssa’s body, not kill each other, survive chemotherapy and finally, hunt down all other T-cells in Alyssa’s body (healthy and cancerous). 

Question: What is base editing technique? How it helps to treat T-Cell blood cancer. 

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

To promote the use of ‘NAVigation with the Indian Constellation’ (NavIC), the Indian version of GPS, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will introduce the L1 frequency in all its future satellites.

• The next satellites, starting from NVS-01 onwards, will have an L1 band for civilian navigational use.

What is NavIC?

• NavIC is India’s homegrown alternative to GPS. Developed by ISRO, the navigation satellite system was first approved in 2006 at a cost of $174 million, but became operational only by 2018. 
• At present, it consists of eight satellites, covering the whole of India and up to 1,500 km from its boundaries.
• The government has said NavIC is as accurate as GPS. The “performance of NavIC system is on par with the other positioning systems”.
• The seven satellites in the NavIC constellation so far use two frequencies for providing positioning data — the L5 and S bands. 
• The new satellites NVS-01 onwards, meant to replace these satellites, will also have L1 frequency. 
• The L1 is the oldest and most established GPS signals, which even the less sophisticated, civilian-use devices such as smartwatches are capable of receiving. 
• Thus, with this band, the use of NavIC in civilian-use gadgets can go up.
• GPS satellites generally transmit on two frequencies—L1 (42 MHz) and L2 (1227.60 MHz).

Use of NavIC

• NavIC is mainly being used in public vehicle tracking, to provide emergency warning alerts to fishermen venturing into the deep sea, and for tracking data related to natural disasters.
• The government is also pushing for its increased use in smartphones.

Advantages of NavIC

• NavIC, since it is homegrown, will be more accurate than other systems.
• With a fully operational constellation and ground stations outside of India — ISRO plans to set up ground stations in Japan and France to better triangulate the entire area under NavIC coverage – 
• The system is likely to become more accurate than GPS. 
• The satellites placed directly over India also ensure better availability of signals in varied geographical regions compared to GPS, which India receives at an angle, making it difficult to access in dense forests or valleys.

Other navigation systems:

• Galileo – European Union
• GLONASS – Russia
• China’s – Beidou
• QZSS – Japan

Question: Discuss the features of NavIC, India’s version of GPS. What are its advantages?

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

The script, once patronised by Meitei rulers but which fell into disuse with the advent of Hinduism and eventually disappeared, is now enjoying a new lease of life after a decades-old movement for its revival.

About the Meitei Script

• Meitei script or Meetei Mayek is an abugida (pseudo-alphabet system) used for the Meitei language, one of the official languages of Manipur.
• The earliest epigraphic record of the script is a stone inscription from Khoibu village which was erected on the orders of Meidingu Kiyamba (1467-1508).
• ‘Meidingu’ are kings who belong to the Ningthouja clan whose rule extends from 33 AD to 1949 AD.
• The Meitei Mayek or Meitei script evolved with time and this led to conflict between various proponents.
• According to the Sahitya Akademi, the history of the Meetei Mayek script dates back to at least the 6th century and was in use till the 18th century. 
• Decline of Meitei script: In 1709, a Hindu missionary named Shantidas Gosai came to Kangleipak — the ancient name for the independent kingdom of Manipur — to spread Vaishnavism. 
• He mesmerized the kings and the high officials of the palace, and on royal orders, all religious and other precious books in Meitei Mayek were incinerated, and new ones were written in the Bengali script.
• Revival of Meitei script: The Manipuri language was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution in 1992 but in Bengali script.
• However, Meetei Mayek has seen a revival in the 21st century, with an initial shift to the Manipuri script in educational institutions and an amendment of the Manipur Official Language Act in 2021 to mandate the phasing out of Bengali script over the next ten years.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

NASA’s Orion capsule splashed down back to Earth on Sunday, December 11. The Orion’s landing in the Pacific Ocean marked the end of the inaugural Artemis 1 lunar mission exactly 50 years after Apollo’s final moon landing.

• The gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, carrying a simulated crew of three mannequins wired with sensors”, landed in the Pacific Ocean, off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. 
• It also performed a new landing technique called ‘skip entry’, designed to help the spacecraft accurately splash down at the landing site. 
• Orion entered the Earth’s upper atmosphere and used the atmosphere and its lift to “skip” back outside the atmosphere only to re-enter once again.

What is the Artemis 1 Mission?

• Artemis 1 was essentially an experimental mission, to check if the capsule can be trusted to ferry humans to the moon and back in future missions. Thus, safe re-entry was critical to the success of the whole initiative.
• Named after the sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, it is NASA’s successor to the Apollo lunar missions from fifty years ago.
• Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come.
• The primary goals for Artemis I are to demonstrate Orion’s systems in a spaceflight environment and ensure a safe re-entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery prior to the first flight with crew on Artemis II.
• It is only a lunar Orbiter mission even though, unlike most Orbiter missions, it has a return-to-Earth target.
• Artemis I is the first step into that new space age of achieving the promise of transporting humans to new worlds, of landing and living on other planets, or maybe meeting aliens.
• As it hurtled towards Earth, Orion experienced such friction and pressure that its forward-facing surface could have generated temperatures likely to reach around 3,000C. 
• It’s essentially like throwing a football 300 yards and hitting a penny Eric Coffman, Orion propulsion senior manager at Lockheed Martin Corp, which built Orion under contract with NASA.

Aims of Artemis 1

• Artemis 1 is being seen by NASA as a stepping stone to much greater things.
• It is the first in a series of missions that are planned to not only take humans back to the Moon, but to also explore the possibilities of extended stay there, and to investigate the potential to use the Moon as a launch pad for deep space explorations.

Artemis II

• It will take off in 2024.
• Artemis II will have a crew aboard Orion and will be a test mission to confirm that all of the spacecraft’s systems will operate as designed when it has humans on board.
• But the Artemis II launch will be similar to that of Artemis I. A crew of four astronauts will be aboard Orion as it and ICPS orbit the Earth twice before moving to the direction of the Moon.

Artemis III

• It is scheduled for 2025, and is expected to ferry astronauts to the moon for the first time since the apollo missions.

Question: What is the Artemis Mission? How it will help human in space exploration.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Delegates from 196 countries — Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) — are meeting in Montreal, Canada from December 7-21 with the aim to hammer out a new global agreement on halting environmental loss.

• Many of the 24 conservation targets under discussion at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) aim to avoid past mistakes and improve on the world’s last set of conservation goals — the Aichi Biodiversity Targets that expired in 2020. 
• No single country met all 20 Aichi Targets within its own borders, according to a September 2020 UN assessment.

What were the Aichi Targets?

• The Aichi Targets, adopted during the 2010 CBD summit in Nagoya, located in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, included goals such as reducing deforestation by at least half during the coming decade and curbing pollution so that it no longer harmed ecosystems.
• India is also a party to the Convention.
• The convention is legally binding on its signatories.
• Only two member states of the United Nations are not Parties to the CBD, namely: the USA and the Vatican.
• The most notable Aichi objective and one of the few to include a numerical goal — aimed to protect or conserve 17% of all land and inland waters and 10% of the ocean by the end of the decade.
• Today about 15% of the world’s land and 8% of ocean territories are under some form of protection, though the level of protection varies.
• About 10% of the targets saw no significant progress, the assessment found. 
• Six of the targets, including the land and ocean conservation target, were deemed “partially achieved”.
• The Global Environment Facility, the primary source of financing for international biodiversity protection, has collected around $5 billion from 29 countries for the funding period from 2022 to 2026.
• The Aichi Targets also failed to garner buy-in from governments beyond the environmental ministers who brokered the deal.

Reasons for the failure of Aichi Targets

• A lack of clearly defined metrics by which to gauge progress made the Aichi goals tough to implement, experts say.
• Aichi was made of aspirational targets, which was great for…enabling people to do a lot, but not great for communication.

Global Environment Facility

• The GEF was established in 1991 by the World Bank in consultation with UNDP and UNEP, to provide funding to protect the global environment. 
• World Bank serves as the GEF trustee, administering the fund.
• GEF Funds are available to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to meet the objectives of the international environmental conventions and agreements.

GEF serves as a “financial mechanism” to five Conventions:

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
• UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
• Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Question: What were the Aichi Targets? Give the reasons countries could not achieved their target under it.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022, which seeks to to strengthen the protection of endangered species and enhance punishment for illegal wildlife trade, was passed in the Rajya Sabha.

• As India was a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora that required certain legislative actions to obligate the convention.

About Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972

• The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides a legal framework for the protection of various species of wild animals and plants, management of their habitats, regulation and control of trade in wild animals, plants and products made from them.
• The act also lists schedules of plants and animals that are afforded various degrees of protection and monitoring by the government.

Proposed Amendments

• This amendment proposed a new schedule for species listed in the Appendices under CITES.
• Section 6 has been amended to constitute Standing Committee to exercise such powers and duties as may be delegated to it by the State Board for Wildlife.
• Section 43 of the act amended which permitted the use of elephants for ‘religious or any other purposes’.
• To enable the Central government to appoint a Management Authority Section 49E has been inserted.
• To allow the Central Government to appoint a Scientific Authority to provide guidance on matters relating to the impact on the survival of the specimens on being traded.
• The Bill also empowers Central government to regulate and stop the import, trade or possession of invasive plant or animal alien species.
• The Bill also enhances the penalties prescribed for violation of provisions of the Act.
• For ‘General violations’, maximum fine is increased from 25,000 to 1 lakh.
• In case of Specially protected animals, the minimum fine of Rs. 10,000 has been enhanced to Rs. 25,000.

The Concerns Associated with the Bill

• Phrase “any other purpose” is vague and has potential of encouraging commercial trade of elephants.
• Some important issues regarding Human-Wildlife conflict, Eco-sensitive zone rule, etc., has not been addressed.
• According to the report provided by the Parliamentary Standing Committee, species listed in all three schedules of the Bill are incomplete.
• The scientists, botanists, biologists are short in number and needed greater inclusion of them to accelerate the process of listing all existing species of wildlife.

About the Elephant Protection

• In 1897, the Elephants Preservation Act prohibited the killing or capture of wild elephants unless in self-defense or to protect property and crops, or under a license issued by the district collector.
• In 1927, the Indian Forest Act listed the elephant as ‘cattle’, prescribing the highest fine of Rs 10 for every impounded jumbo — in comparison, a cow attracted a fine of Re 1 and a camel of Rs 2.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act (WLPA),1972 identified the elephant along with the bullock, camel, donkey, horse, and mule, as a “vehicle”. Given the highest legal protection in 1977, the elephant was the only animal in WLPA’s Schedule-I that can still be owned legally by means of inheritance or gift.
• In 2003, WLPA was amended to prohibit trade in all captive wildlife and any (non-commercial) transfer across state boundaries without permission from the concerned chief wildlife warden.
• Now, the Wildlife Protection Bill,2022 permits the transfer or transport of a captive elephant for a religious or any other purpose by a person having a valid certificate of ownership.

What are the objections to the present amendment? 

• The sweeping ambit of “any other purpose” in the present amendment will empower elephant traders, put wild populations at greater risk of capture and defeat the very purpose of WLPA. Instead, the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended that it should be limited to temple elephants kept for religious purposes.
• However, there is also a counter view that prohibition on commercial transfer only drove the live elephant trade underground as traders switched to dressing up commercial deals as gift deeds to bypass the 2003 amendment.

What is the stand of the new Bill on Vermin Species?

• The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022 makes a significant amendment as it reduces the number of schedules from six to four. The Bill seeks to do away with Schedule V for vermin species entirely.
• This gives the Centre direct power to declare any species to be ‘vermin’ and make way for them to be freely hunted. Thus, declaring any species as vermin becomes easier.
• In recent years, however, the Centre has started using its powers under Section 62 to issue sweeping orders declaring species as vermin at even state levels, often without any credible scientific assessment.

• For example, Nilgais were declared as vermin across 20 districts in Bihar for a year in 2015.
• The Centre cited “large-scale destruction of agriculture” as the ground for declaring monkeys (Rhesus macaque) vermin in Shimla municipality in 2019.
• The issue has since entered the realm of centre-state politics. Since last year, Kerala’s requests for declaring wild boars as vermin have been turned down repeatedly by the Environment ministry.

Question: Discuss the key amendments introduced under The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The pilgrimage season at Sabarimala also marks a crunch time for the forests around the hillock. Pilgrims keep moving along the roads here without a break, the impact of which can be far from ethereal.

• But thanks to a community initiative by the Forest department, an indigenous community collective is helping the authorities keep the forest roads here clean. 
• The collective, called eco-guards, comprises about 25 members including women from the Malampandaram tribe, a nomadic community living inside the Sabarimala forests.
• Deployed between Laha and Chalakkayam along the main trunk road to Sabarimala, they keep walking constantly along the route throughout the day and collect plastic waste littered on both sides of the road. 
• The eco-guards also assist the elephant squads of the Forest department to prevent the wild elephants from entering the road here and block traffic.

The Malampandaram Tribe

• This is the name of a small, nomadic community living in the remote forest.
• Fishing and collecting fruits and other edibles from the forest are the main occupations of this community that depends on the forest for all their needs.
• The Malai Pandaram or otherwise termed as Hill Pandaram is a scheduled tribe.
• They are mainly distributed in the high range areas of Kollam and Pathanamthitta Districts. The 2011 Census recorded their population as 2,422.
• In the Travancore region they have a patios referred by others as Pandaram Basha. With others they converse in Malayalam and educated use the Malayalam script for writing.
• The major traditional occupation is hunting and gathering.
• They continue to be engaged in their traditional occupation of making and selling of rudrakshamala, tulasimala, glass beads necklace and bangles.
• Some of them have traditional knowledge in herbal medicines.
• The medicinal herbs are collected from forests of Sabarimalai, Irali (Idukki) and Wayanad.

Question: Write a note on the Programme on Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDP).

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Oil companies are threatening two of Africa’s most iconic biodiversity hotspots in an effort to drill for oil that will ultimately make its way to a global elite and won’t benefit Africans.

• ReconAfrica, a Canadian company, has been drilling for oil in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Nature Conservation Area (KAZA).
• KAZA is the second-largest nature and landscape conservation area in the world. It is spread across the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• More than 200,000 people live in the area that falls under ReconAfrica’s exploration licenses.

The Okavango delta

• The Okavango delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Africa.
• The delta is also the homeland of indigenous people like the San.
• The Okavango delta is formed by the Okavango river, which originates in the highlands of Angola. 
• It flows into the Kalahari desert of southern Africa and spreads out, forming what is called a ‘fan’.
• The Okavango’s waters make the otherwise dry area a waterlogged wetland that provides vital water resources for animals, plants and over one million people.
• The delta is home to Africa’s Big Five wildlife species: Savanna elephants, Cape buffaloes, rhinos, lions and leopards. 
• There are also giraffes, zebras, antelopes, pangolins, 400 bird species and over 1,000 plant species.

Threats to Okavango delta:

• Oil spill could pollute the Okavango River and the Okavango delta.
• Noise, infrastructure construction, toxic chemicals

Murchison Falls

• Murchison Falls became one of Uganda’s first national parks in 1952
• At Murchison Falls, the Nile squeezes through an 8m wide gorge.
• The northern section of the park contains savanna and Borassus palms, acacia trees, and riverine woodland. 
• The south is dominated by woodland and forest patches
• Murchison Falls National Park lies at the northern end of the Albertine Rift Valley, where the sweeping Bunyoro escarpment tumbles into vast, palm-dotted savanna. 
• First gazetted as a game reserve in 1926, it is Uganda’s largest and oldest conservation area.
• The park is bisected by the Victoria Nile, which plunges 45m over the remnant rift valley wall, creating the dramatic Murchison Falls, the centerpiece of the park and the final event in an 80km stretch of rapids. 
• The mighty cascade drains the last of the river’s energy, transforming it into a broad, placid stream that flows quietly across the rift valley floor into Lake Albert. 
• This stretch of river provides one of Uganda’s most remarkable wildlife spectacles.
•  Regular visitors to the riverbanks include elephants, giraffes, and buffaloes; while hippos, Nile crocodiles, and aquatic birds are permanent residents.
• Murchison Falls is notably blessed with over 144 mammals,556 bird species,51 reptiles, and 51 Amphibians. 
• With a great number of  African elephants, Murchison falls is impressive all year round. 

Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Nature Conservation Area (KAZA)

• KAZA is the second-largest nature and landscape conservation area in the world.
• It is spread across the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• The KAZA TFCA is enormous, larger than Germany and Austria combined and nearly twice as large as the United Kingdom. 
• Jewels in the crown of this spectacular array of protected areas are the 15,000 km2 Okavango Delta, an explosion of green and blue in parched landscape – the world’s largest inland delta, and the awe inspiring tumbling cataracts of the Victoria Falls, a World Heritage Site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Government of India has extended the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme beyond March, 2022 with the following provisions:

• Extension of lending period till December 2024;
• Introduction of 3rd loan of upto ₹50,000 in addition to 1st & 2nd loans of ₹10,000 and ₹20,000 respectively.
• To extend ‘SVANidhi Se Samriddhi’ component for all beneficiaries of PM SVANidhi scheme across the country.

About the PM SVANidhi 

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi(PM SVANidhi).

• To provide a user-friendly digital interface for lending institutions (LIs) and their field functionaries for sourcing and processing loan applications of street vendors under the PM SVANidhi scheme.
• It is a Central Sector Scheme to facilitate street vendors to access affordable working capital loan for resuming their livelihoods activities after easing of lockdown.

Eligibility Criteria 

• Initial working capital of up to 10,000/.
• Interest subsidy on timely/ early repayment @ 7%.
• Higher loan eligibility on timely repayment of the first loan.

Beneficiaries: 

• Street vendors/ hawkers vending in urban areas as on or before March 24,2020 including the vendors of surrounding peri-urban and rural areas.
• Street vendors in possession of Certificate of Vending/Identity Card issued by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
• The vendors, who have been identified in the survey but have not been issued Certificate of Vending/Identity Card; Provisional Certificate of Vending would be generated for such vendors through an IT based Platform.

Lending Institutions: 

• Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies, Micro-Finance Institutions and SHG Banks.

Question: What are the objectives of the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme?