Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana: Credit saturation for livelihoods
• India, China and Bhutan trialogue can bring clarity on borders

GS Paper 3

• Building a blue economy: What India can learn from China
• Awaiting lift-off into the Second Space Age
• Directing AI for better and smarter legislation
• On India’s new stance on trade agreements: It takes India back to the pre-reforms era
• New amendment rules on intermediary guidelines amount to censorship
• Race to the bottom – Restricting journalists does not serve the interests of China or India

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• What is LIGO-India, the Indian node in the global network of labs to probe the universe
• India is home to 75% of global tigers; count rises above 3,000
• Centre plans revamp of livestock insurance scheme to raise coverage
• NCF 2023 Draft: What are the proposed changes for the Indian school system?
• No scientific data to oppose same-sex marriage, says psychiatrists’ body
• International Big Cats Alliance(IBCA): PM launches global bloc to save 7 big cat species
• The population bomb that never was
• Indian-American C.R. Rao wins Nobel Prize equivalent in statistics
• Language Friendship Bridge Project: India to bridge language gap with neighbours
• Astronomers used machine learning to mine data from South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope: What they found
• Bowenpally’s Biogas Plant: Telangana Generates Electricity from Vegetable Waste

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana: Credit saturation for livelihoods

News: Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) has completed eight years. The article analyzes the scheme and provides its achievements.

About Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY)

It is one of the flagship schemes of the Union government to encourage self- employment. The scheme targets micro and own-account enterprises that are mostly engaged in manufacturing, processing, trading and services.

These units were largely self-financed or relied on moneylenders because the country’s formal architecture was unable to reach out to them and meet their financial requirements.

Hence, the PMMY was launched to bridge the gap between a large unbanked sector and formal lenders.

The scope of the scheme has widened with the time. For example, initially it covered income-generating activity only in the sectors of manufacturing, trading and services.

However, since 2016-17, activities allied with agriculture and their support services promoting livelihoods have been brought under its ambit.

Read More: Reserve Bank flags rising bad assets from Mudra loans

What has been the social impact of PMMY?

On Social Groups: The PMMY has benefitted all segments of Indian society such as General, SC/STs and OBCs. There has been an increase in the participation of OBCs and SCs in availing the loans.

On Women: The scheme has given impetus to women’s entrepreneurship. Disbursements to women entrepreneurs registered an average growth of 23% in the scheme’s first four years. In 2022, it surpassed its pre-covid level, registering a robust growth of 28%.

On Minority Communities: The scheme has been able to cater to the requirements of minorities. Loans to members of minority groups touched an all-time high in 2022, with their overall share at 10%. Shishu and Kishore loans accounted for 85% of total cumulative disbursement.

How has the scheme performed across different states?

One of the objectives of India’s growth policy has been to bridge the divide between the thriving western and lagging eastern parts of the country. As per a report, there has been a significant dispersion of the loan amount across states.

For example, states such as Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar have recorded all-round gains from the PMMY. West Bengal and Tripura have also seen a rise in their total share, indicating an eastward flow of beneficiaries.

Developed regions such as the national capital region, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa have seen their shares decline, even though they dominate the scheme in absolute terms.

What has been the overall performance of PMMY?

As per a survey, the scheme had helped in generating 11.2 million net additional jobs during the period 2015 to 2018.

Data as on 24 March 2023 puts the scheme’s cumulative disburse amount at ₹22.65 trillion. The share of Shishu loans is the highest, at 40%, suggesting that the PMMY has largely supported first-time entrepreneurs.

What can be the way ahead?

It is crucial that PMMY reap the benefits of 5G technology and e-commerce with popularization of Mudra cards.

Encouraging the registration and formalization of own-account enterprises could be another way of taking this scheme to new levels.

Source: Mint

India, China and Bhutan trialogue can bring clarity on borders

News: The article discusses various issues with the Bhutan and China boundary demarcation and stand of India on the issue.

What are the issues with the demarcation of Bhutan-China boundary?

There are issues over the natural borders. The Chumbi Valley is one of them.

The valley is important for strategic and economic reasons and has a significant relational value given its proximity to the Amochhu river. The valley is also known as the Bhutanese route to Tibet. 

The valley reflects two broad principles guiding the demarcations of borders in the Himalayas:

• The Thalweg Doctrine: It emphasises the idea of map-making by identifying rivers as the central point and measuring the boundary from the lowest point of a riverbed.
• The water-parting principle: It identifies territory with a concerned watershed, where the boundary is determined by the highest elevation surrounding that particular lake or river segment.

These both principles have been merged in the ongoing border negotiations between China and Bhutan.

The dispute in the north-west sector of the China-Bhutan border has revolved around the watershed of the Chumbi Valley, and the height of certain Himalayan ranges such as Mt Gipmochi.

What are the issues over Mt Gipmochi?

China has legally claimed the boundary line from Mt Gipmochi, through the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1890. The Amochhu river flows adjacent to Mt Gipmochi. 

However, both India and Bhutan have rejected these claims and stated that the boundary line should follow from Batangla, Merugla and Sinchula ranges as these peaks are higher than Gipmochi.

The Chinese have ignored these assertions and have continued to build villages along the west bank of Amochhu river.

Therefore, the Thalweg Doctrine is the compromise formula for solving the disputed claims.

How has India responded to the border dispute between Bhutan and China?

Since, the bilateral relations between Bhutan and China is of strategic importance to India, India has said that the tri-junction would be resolved trilaterally.

In this regard, the 15th round of Sino-Indian Special Representative (SR) dialogue, 2012, becomes significant.

The India-China agreement on the Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination was made in SR dialogue of 2012.

However, China has said that the SRs discussed bilateral, regional and global issues. Terms such as “tri-junction” and “consultation with third countries” are absent in the 15th round of SR dialogue of 2012.

China has also said that issue lies more with the 1890 Convention than with the SR dialogue of 2012.

Must Read: India – Bhutan relations and its significance – Explained

What lies ahead?

It is important that a trilogue is initiated. Opening communication channels can minimise uncertainties as questions of peace and conflict cannot be resolved by potential stand-offs (like Doklam) in the future.

GS Paper 3

Building a blue economy: What India can learn from China

News– The article explains the potential of fishing sector for blue economy

What are the reasons for the dispute on fishing rights between India and Sri Lanka?

The Indo-Sri Lankan maritime boundary agreements were signed in 1974 and 1976. It allowed fishermen of both nations to enjoy the rights traditionally enjoyed in each other’s waters.

Maritime boundaries lack physical demarcation. So, the lull in fishing activity during the civil war in Sri Lanka, encouraged Indian fishermen to encroach into Sri Lankan waters.

With the end of hostilities in 2009, the Sri Lankan fishing community reclaimed their rights. It brings them into conflict with Indian fishers.

What is the importance of the fishing sector?

The fishing fleet is an important component of the sea power of the state. The role of this fleet has grown sharply. In the two world wars, fishing vessels were widely used as part of the navy for combat tasks.

China  has mobilised the fishing industry to meet the rising demand for protein. China is today a fishery superpower. It owns the world’s largest deep-water fishing (DWF) fleet. China had begun distant deepwater fishing, as far back as in 1985.

China also uses a part of its fishing fleet as a “maritime militia”, which assists the navy and coast guard in their tasks.

What are some facts about the fishing sector in India?

In India, fish is an affordable and rich source of animal protein. It is one of the healthiest options to mitigate hunger and malnutrition.

Since Independence, India’s marine fishery has been dominated by the poor, small-scale fisheries. They deliver only 2% of marine fish to the market, while 98% is caught by mechanised and motorised craft.

India’s fisheries are being transformed into a commercial enterprise. The sector has shown steady growth and has become a major contributor of foreign exchange.

India ranks amongst the world’s leading seafood exporting nations. Fisheries provide livelihood to about 15 million fishers and fish-farmers at the primary level. It generates jobs, along the value-chain in transportation, cold-storages, and marketing.

What are the issues with the fishing sector in India?

India has not invested much in a deepwater fleet. Most of the fishing is being undertaken in coastal waters. India fishermen have to compete with neighbours, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, in restricted fishing grounds.

Fishing vessels often drift into foreign waters. It  leads to apprehension by navies/coast guards and prolonged imprisonment of the crew.

Moreover, the rich resources in India’s EEZ remain underexploited. Much of fishing is done by the better equipped fishing fleets of other Indo-Pacific countries. Some of them indulge in illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing. IUU also has serious security and environmental implications.

Most of India’s fisheries exports are at a low level of value addition. There is less focus on “ready-to-eat” or “ready-to-cook” marine products.

What is the way forward for the fishing sector in India?

India needs to evolve a long-term vision for its fishing industry with focus on four areas:

Mechanisation and modernisation of fishing vessels by providing communication links and electronic fish-detection devices.

Developing deep-water fishing fleets, with bigger, sea-going trawlers equipped with refrigeration facilities.

A DWF fleet will have to be built around the “mothership” concept. Large vessel would accompany the fleet to provide fuel, medical and on-board processing facilities.

Development of modern fishing harbours with adequate berthing and post-harvest facilities, including cold storage, preservation, and packaging of fish.

Awaiting lift-off into the Second Space Age

News– The article exp-lains the changing nature of the space sector.

What are some facts about the first space age?

The Space Age began in 1957 with the launch of satellite Sputnik 1. In 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the world’s first person in space.

The period was dominated by the Cold War. Between the 1950s to 1991, 60 to 120 space launches took place annually and 93% of these were by the United States and the erstwhile USSR governments.

What have been the important developments in the space sector in India?

India made a modest entry into the First Space Age in the 1960s. The first sounding rocket was launched at Thumba in 1963.

In 1969, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was set up. It has over 15,000 employees and an annual budget between ₹12,000 crore-₹14,000 crore in recent years.

Its first major project was the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE). It involved leasing a U.S. satellite in 1975-76 for educational outreach.

Satellite technology was a new mass communication tool. This led to the INSAT series in the 1980s, followed by GSAT. It provided the backbone for the country’s tele-communication and broadcasting infrastructure.

This was followed by remote sensing capability development. It includes the use of space-based imagery for weather forecasting, resource mapping of forests, analysing agricultural yields, groundwater and watersheds, fisheries and urban management.

There is now focus on Oceansat and Cartosat series. The field of satellite-aided navigation emerged later. It began with GAGAN, a joint project between ISRO and the Airports Authority of India.

GAGAN aim is to augment Global Positioning System coverage of the region, to improve air traffic management over Indian airspace. This has now been expanded to a regional navigation satellite system called Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).

In parallel came the development of satellite launch capabilities. Beginning with the SLV-1 in the 1980s. ISRO has developed the PSLV series that has become its workhorse with over 50 successful launches.

What are various facts about the second space age?

The origins of the Second Space Age can be traced to the Internet.

The last 15 years witnessed another transformation. The mobile telephony, followed by smartphones has led to drastic changes. Broadband, OTT and now 5G promise a double-digit annual growth in demand for satellite-based services.

It is dominated by the private sector. In terms of the end-user revenue, only a fifth is generated by the government. The growing role of the private sector is also evident in the numbers and ownership of satellites. According to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, there are 8,261 satellites in orbit, of which nearly 5,000 are active.

Till 2010, about 60 to 100 satellites were launched annually. In 2020, 1283 satellites were launched. Today, Starlink operates a constellation of over 3,500 satellites and has a million paying customers.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon has launched Project Kuiper to bring low-latency broadband connectivity around the globe.

The Indian private sector is responding to the demands of the Second Space Age. From less than a dozen space start-ups five years ago, there are over 100 today.

The pace of investment is growing. From $3 million in 2018, it doubled in 2019 and crossed $65 million in 2021.

What are various achievements of ISRO in terms of satellites?

Today, ISRO manages four to five launches annually. It manages 53 operational satellites – 21 for communication, 21 for earth observation, eight for navigation and the remaining as scientific experimental satellites.

ISRO has missions such as Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan and Gaganyaan. ISRO has always been an open organisation that has worked closely with the Indian private sector.

ISRO today is the operator, user, service provider, licensor, rule maker and also an incubator.

What is the government response to changes in the space sector?

In 2017, the government introduced the first draft Space Activities Bill in Parliament but it lapsed in 2019.

There has been talk of commercialising the PSLV and SSLV launch services and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) was set up to replace Antrix.

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) was set up in 2020 as a single-window-clearance for the private sector. An Indian Space Association (ISpA) was created as an industry association.

In recent years, a series of policy papers have been circulated for discussion. It includes telecom policy, an earth observation policy and a foreign direct investment policy.

What is the way forward for the space sector in India?

The start-ups in the space sector are different. Their revenue stream depends on space-related activities. They need a different relationship with ISRO and the government.

Now, there is a need for legislation for the space sector. It will help to set up a regulatory authority and create an enabling environment for raising venture capital funding into the Indian space start-up industry.

Directing AI for better and smarter legislation

News– The article deals with scope of AI to improve the legislative process

What are various examples of countries using the power of AI for assisting the legislatures?

The House of Representatives in the United States have introduced an AI tool to automate the process of analysing differences between Bills, amendments and current laws.

The Netherlands House of Representatives has implemented the “Speech2Write” system. It converts voice to text and also translates voice into written reports. It comprises automatic speech recognition and automated editing capabilities.

Japan’s AI tool assists in the preparation of responses for its legislature and also helps in the automatic selection of relevant highlights in parliamentary debates.

Brazil has developed an AI system called Ulysses which supports transparency and citizen participation.

India is also innovating and working towards making parliamentary activities digital such as the ‘One Nation, One Application’ and the National e-Vidhan (NeVA) portal.

What are various uses of AI for the legislature?

AI can also simulate the potential effects of laws. Various datasets such as the Census, data on household consumption, taxpayers, beneficiaries from various schemes, and public infrastructure can be modelled.

AI can uncover potential outcomes of a policy. It can also help in identifying laws that are outdated in the present circumstances and require amendment. For example, the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

AI can analyse citizens’ grievances and social media responses. It identifies issues and priorities that need immediate attention. It can also assist parliamentarians in seeking citizen inputs for public consultation of laws and preparing a manifesto.

What is the way forward to harness the potential of AI?

Digitalisation can be utilised in the field of law, policy-making, and parliamentary activities by harnessing the power of AI.

It needs to be ensured that the use of AI must be encouraged in an open, transparent, and citizen-friendly manner. Policymakers need to be mindful of the fact that it is a means to an end and not an end in itself.

For AI to work in India, we first need to codify our laws. Current laws are opaque, and complex. There is a huge translation gap between law-making, law-implementing and law-interpreting organisations.

The codification should contain a complete chain, right from the parent Act to the subordinate pieces of legislation passed by the central government and the amendment notifications.

There is a need to make laws machine-consumable with a central law engine. It can be a single source for all acts, subordinate pieces of legislation, gazettes, compliances, and regulations.

On India’s new stance on trade agreements: It takes India back to the pre-reforms era

News– The article deals with India new approach to FTAs

What is the record of India in signing FTAs?

India signed several FTAs in the 2000s with countries like Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, and Japan. These FTAs include binding rules on both, international trade liberalisation, and the protection of foreign investment from arbitrary state conduct.

In the last few years, India has signed FTAs with Mauritius and the UAE and an interim one with Australia. India is currently negotiating FTAs with the UK, European Union, Canada, and Israel.

How is India ‘s FTA policy different from its earlier approach?

India is decoupling international trade law from international investment law. The FTAs with Mauritius, UAE, and Australia contain detailed international rules on trade. But, rules on foreign investment protection are missing.

There is absence of investment protection in these FTAs. It is more striking because India has unilaterally terminated its bilateral investment treaty (BIT) that protects foreign investment with Mauritius and Australia.

In FTA 2.0, India is ostensibly following an approach that can be described as the “domestication of IIL”. It is a process where countries develop domestic rules in parallel to international rules to protect foreign investment.

They give primacy to their domestic laws in safeguarding foreign investment by doing two things-

First, domestically legislating investment protection standards that are typically part of International Investment Law. Second, providing a dispute resolution mechanism at the local level instead of treaty arbitration. South Africa is a good example of this kind of domestication.

India has also unilaterally terminated most of its investment treaties. It has signed a few BITs in the last decade.

Unlike South Africa, India hasn’t legislated an exclusive law for the protection of foreign investment. But the message is quite clear. International trade commitments will be protected under international law and  foreign investment will be guarded as per municipal laws.

India’s approach can also be explained as “de-legalisation of international economic law”. It prefers domestic adjudication for trade and investment matters at the cost of international law.

What can be inferred from India’s new approach to FTAs?

The domestication or de-legalisation of IIL takes India back to the pre-1991 era when India was not in favour of international legalisation of economic relations.

Today, India desperately seeks foreign investment but is suspicious about IIL. The decoupling of international trade law from IIL is not in sync with the approaches of India’s current and potential FTA partner countries.

New amendment rules on intermediary guidelines amount to censorship

News: The government recently notified amendments to Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules.

About the amendments to IT Rules

What are the concerns associated with amendments to IT Rules?

Lack of clarity: There is a lack of clarity on how the fact-checker would be governed and allow redressal of faulty calls. If ‘misleading’ posts are banned, then the wide scope for interpretation of the term “misleading” would make it easy for a fact-checker to abuse its authority.

Further, in ‘the Information Age’, it is challenging to set the truth apart from falsehood.

Forgets Arm’s length of government and media: In India, freedom of the press is guaranteed through Article 19 of the Constitution, with media rights and public right to free speech derived from this Article. This means any relationship between the government and the media should be one kept at arm’s length, with the media having sufficient freedom. But these amendments will impact the freedom of the press.

Create chilling effect: By threatening to remove a platform’s immunity for content that is flagged by a government unit, it is clear that the Union government intends to create a “chilling effect” on the right to speech and expression on online platforms.

What should be done?

-All rule-making and rule enforcers must outlive changes in every domain. To ensure that, the fact-checking body should be kept transparent and open to scrutiny.

-Autonomy for the fact-checker would be an essential condition to address the conflict of interest between the Centre and the media firms. Else, it will act as a another arm of government’s regulatory system.

-The rule’s basic validity needs to be tested by the judiciary in the light of our right to free speech. The Constitution must prevail.

Race to the bottom – Restricting journalists does not serve the interests of China or India

News: Recently, the Chinese government froze the visas of two Indian journalists. The Chinese government have said that its recent decision was a response to India taking steps aimed at Chinese journalists.

How are journalists dragged into the geopolitical tensions between India and China?

Until 2016, reporters from both countries were on one-year visas and largely left to do their work. But in 2016, three Chinese reporters were expelled after visiting a Tibetan settlement without permission from the Home Affairs Ministry. This reduction was subsequently placed on all Chinese reporters with three-month visas in 2017.

According to Chinese reports, a Chinese reporter was told to leave India this year. In response, China warned only two Indian reporters in China to face countermeasures if Chinese visas were not restored to one-year validity.

What are the implications of actions against journalists?

a) If Chinese journalists were asked to leave and vice versa, then there would be no reporters from the world’s two largest countries covering the other, b) Absence of on-the-ground context might lead to the spread of fake news. For example, there has been fake news of a coup in China last year, c) India’s recent actions, including the government’s response to a BBC documentary, appear to show insecurity.

What should be done?

-China should understand that reciprocity should also include giving Indian organisations the kind of freedom that Chinese media enjoy in India. For example, even in the absence of Chinese employees, Chinese media can continue to report with their Indian journalists. In contrast, China bars foreign media organisations from hiring Chinese journalists except as assistants.

-Restricting all of the Chinese journalists will be counterproductive, Instead, India should scrutinise the non-journalistic activities of some Chinese reporters.

Prelims-Oriented Articles (Factly)

What is LIGO-India, the Indian node in the global network of labs to probe the universe

Source: The post is based on the article “What is LIGO-India, the Indian node in the global network of labs to probe the universe” published in Indian Express on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

The Government of India has given a go-ahead to Rs 2,600-crore project for setting up a Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory-India (LIGO-India) in the Hingoli district in Maharashtra. 

What is the LIGO Project?

LIGO is the world’s most powerful observatory that exploits the physical properties of light and of space itself to detect and understand the origins of gravitational waves.

What are Gravitational Waves?

A gravitational wave is an invisible (yet incredibly fast) ripple in space. Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). These waves squeeze and stretch anything in their path as they pass by. Albert Einstein originally predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916, on the basis of his Theory of General Relativity.

The most powerful gravitational waves are created when objects move at very high speeds. Some examples of events that could cause a gravitational wave are:

– when a star explodes asymmetrically (called a supernova)

– when two big stars orbit each other

– when two black holes orbit each other and merge

When was Gravitational waves first detected?

The first-ever detection of a gravitational wave happened on September 14, 2015, by the two US-based LIGO detectors. These gravitational waves were produced by the merger of two black holes. Scientists checked the results for four months before announcing their result in 2016.

This achievement was promptly rewarded with the Nobel Prize in 2017. Since then, nine more gravitational wave events have been detected by the four observatories in the United States, Europe and Japan.

What is LIGO-India Project?

LIGO-India will be an advanced gravitational-wave observatory to be located in Maharashtra, India, as part of a worldwide network. It is envisaged as a collaborative project between a consortium of Indian research institutions and the LIGO Laboratory in the USA, along with its international partners.

It will be built by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology, with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Science Foundation, the US, along with other institutions.

LIGO-India would be the fifth node of this international network of gravitational wave observatories, and possibly the last. 

Why does the LIGO-India Project matter for India?

For India, LIGO is a momentous milestone. India has been an active collaborator in a number of international science projects. These include the Large Hadron Collider experiments, and ITER, the effort to create a thermonuclear reactor that would enable controlled nuclear fusion reactions.

However, India has not yet built a cutting-edge scientific facility on this scale on its own soil, something that can have huge spin-off benefits for its science and technology sector. 

The India-based Neutrino Observatory, one such facility that has been planned in India, has been facing delays. Therefore, LIGO is crucial to demonstrating India’s intent and capability to pull-off complex science projects on its own.

India is home to 75% of global tigers; count rises above 3,000

Source: The post is based on the article “India is home to 75% of global tigers; count rises above 3,000” published in Livemint on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

The Prime Minister has released the figures of the 5th cycle of India’s Tiger Census.

What are the key findings from the 5th cycle of India’s Tiger Census?

Number of Tigers: Tiger numbers have once again increased in the country and now stand at 3,167 in the wild as of 2022. 

– The 2018 Tiger Census released in 2019 established the presence of 2,967 tigers in India. 

– This means that the tiger population in the country has increased by 6.7 per cent in the past four years.

– The tiger population has grown the most in the Shivalik hills and Gangetic flood plains, followed by central India, the northeastern hills, the Brahmaputra flood plains and the Sundarbans. But there was a decline in tiger population in the Western Ghats.

Threats faced by tiger habitats: The major tiger zones face a range of threats including habitat encroachment, illegal hunting of both tigers and their prey, conflicts between humans and wildlife, unregulated and illicit cattle grazing, excessive harvesting of non-timber forest produce, human-induced forest fires, mining, and ever-expanding linear infrastructure. 

About India’s Biodiversity

India has only 2.4% of the world’s land area, but it contributes toward 8 percent to known global biodiversity. 

India is the largest tiger range country in the world, the largest Asiatic elephant range country in the world with nearly thirty thousand elephants, and also the largest single-horn rhino country with a population of nearly three thousand. 

India is home to 75% of the world’s tiger population. India is the only country in the world to have Asiatic lions and its population has increased from around 525 in 2015 to around 675 in 2020. India’s leopard population has increased by over 60 percent in 4 years.

India has added 11 wetlands to its list of Ramsar sites taking the total number of Ramsar Sites to 75. 

India has added over 2200 square kilometres of forest and tree cover by 2021 when compared to 2019. In the last decade.

The number of Community Reserves increased from 43 to over 100 and the number of National Parks and sanctuaries around which Eco-sensitive Zones were notified increased from  9 to 468, that too in a decade.  

Centre plans revamp of livestock insurance scheme to raise coverage

Source: The post is based on the article “Centre plans revamp of livestock insurance scheme to raise coverage” published in The Hindu on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

The Central Government is considering launching a comprehensive livestock insurance scheme modelled on the Prime Minister’s Fasal Bima Yojana. 

Comprehensive livestock insurance will replace the present Livestock Insurance Scheme.

What is the Livestock Insurance Scheme?

Nodal Ministry: Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying 

Type: Centrally sponsored scheme

Launched in: The scheme was implemented on a pilot basis during 2005-06 and 2006-07 of the 10th Five-Year Plan and 2007-08 of the 11th Five-Year Plan in 100 selected districts. 

– The scheme is being implemented on a regular basis from 2008-09 in 100 selected districts of the country. 

Objective: To provide a protection mechanism to the farmers and cattle rearers against any eventual loss of their animals due to death.

– To demonstrate the benefit of the insurance of livestock to the people and popularize it with the ultimate goal of attaining qualitative improvement in livestock and their products.

Under the scheme, the cross-bred and high-yielding cattle and buffaloes are being insured at the maximum of their current market price. The premium of the insurance is subsidized to the tune of 50%. The entire cost of the subsidy is being borne by the Central Government. 

– The benefit of subsidy is being provided to a maximum of 2 animals per beneficiary for a policy of a maximum of three years.

– The scheme is being managed by the respective State Livestock Development Boards.

What are the challenges faced by the scheme?

Farmers are often caught in the fight between State government officials and insurance companies.

Not even a single animal was insured during 2022-23, whereas during 2021-22, 1,74,061 were insured.

High premium rates and general economic conditions of farmers are reasons for lower enrolment in the scheme.

NCF 2023 Draft: What are the proposed changes for the Indian school system?

Source: The post is based on the article “NCF 2023 Draft: What are the proposed changes for the Indian school system?” published in Indian Express on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

The Ministry of Education has released the pre-draft of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2023 for school education for public feedback.

What is NCF?

The NCF, which was last revised in 2005 is a key document based on which textbooks are prepared. 

So the current set of NCERT textbooks, barring the deletions, are all based on the NCF 2005. 

What are the changes proposed in the NCF 2023 for school education?

Design of subjects and exams at the secondary stage: Over two years, in classes IX and X, the students will have to study 16 courses categorized under eight curricular areas.

Students will have to clear eight board exams, each of which will assess their hold on courses they learnt in class IX and X, to obtain the final certification which will factor in their performances in exams held over two years. 

Under the current system, there are no such links between class IX and X and students across most boards have to pass at least five subjects to clear class X.

Class 12th: Currently, in Class 12, CBSE students appear for the board exam in at least five subjects and a maximum of six and there is little scope for them to pursue multidisciplinary education. 

In other words, a student who has picked a combination of Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry cannot simultaneously study History or Political Science. 

But under the proposed system, that will be possible as the NEP envisages “no hard separation” among arts, humanities, and sciences.

Teaching method: At the foundational level, for children aged 3-8 enrolled in grades between preschool and class II, the pedagogical approach suggested is play based. It adds that textbooks are to be used from Grade 1 and most of the content should be concrete materials – toys, puzzles, and manipulatives.

For grades III, IV, and V or the preparatory stage, children are to be introduced to textbooks on languages, and mathematics, while also retaining the activity and discovery-based approach. And in the middle stage (class VI, VII, VIII), natural as well as social sciences will be introduced.

When will these changes come into effect?

The government recently announced that textbooks based on the revised NCF will be taught in schools starting from the 2024-25 academic session. But a specific timeline for the implementation of the changes on exams, assessments and subject design has not been made available yet.

No scientific data to oppose same-sex marriage, says psychiatrists’ body

Source: The post is based on the article “No scientific data to oppose same-sex marriage, says psychiatrists’ body” published in The Hindu on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS), the professional organization of psychiatrists in India has said that there is no scientific basis for the belief that same-sex couples are not fit to be parents. 

This statement comes amid an ongoing case in the Supreme Court over providing legal validation for same-sex marriages.

What did the Indian Psychiatric Society(IPS) say about same-sex marriage and the adoption of children by them?

IPS has mentioned that individuals of the LGBTQIA should be treated like all citizens of the country, and they should enjoy all civil rights like marriage, adoption, education, and employment. It also said that there is no scientific basis in the belief that same-sex couples are not fit to be parents. 

This statement was issued by the IPS based on scientific research conducted in countries such as the UK, US, Netherlands and Taiwan where same-sex marriage and adoption by LGBTQIA couples has been legalised.

It concluded that children raised by same-sex couples did not systematically differ from other children on any of the outcomes.

The IPS also stated that a child adopted into a same-gendered family may face challenges, stigma and/or discrimination along the way and therefore, it is imperative that, once legalized, such parents bring up the child in a gender-neutral, unbiased environment.

Further, IPS stressed on the importance of sensitizing social units such as families, communities, schools and society, in general, to protect and promote the development of such a child and prevent stigma and discrimination at any cost.

International Big Cats Alliance(IBCA): PM launches global bloc to save 7 big cat species

Source: The post is based on the article “PM launches global bloc to save 7 big cat species” published in TOI on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

The Prime Minister has launched the International Big Cats Alliance.

What is the International Big Cats Alliance(IBCA)?

IBCA will focus on the protection and conservation of seven major big cats of the world such as tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah in collaboration with countries harbouring these species.

Members: Membership to the alliance will be open to 97 “range” countries, which contain the natural habitat of these big cats, as well as other interested nations, international organizations, etc.

Working: The IBCA will engage in advocacy, partnership, knowledge e-portal, capacity building, eco-tourism, partnerships between expert groups and finance tapping.

– The alliance will also disseminate information on benchmarked practices, capacity building, resources repository, research and development and awareness creation among its members.

The population bomb that never was

Source: The post is based on the article “The population bomb that never was” published in The Hindu on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

Researchers from the Earth4All Initiative have released a report titled ‘People and Planet, 21st Century Sustainable Population Scenarios and Possible Living Standards Within Planetary Boundaries’. 

The report published their predictions about the world’s human population.

What are the key findings of the report?

The researchers advanced two scenarios in the report:

– In the first scenario, called “Too Little, Too Late”, researchers predicted that if economic development continues as it has in the last five decades, the world’s population would peak at 8.6 billion in 2050, roughly 25 years from now and decline to 7 billion by 2100.

– In the second scenario, called “The Giant Leap”, the researchers concluded that the population will peak at 8.5 billion by 2040 – a decade sooner than 2050 – but then rapidly decline to around 6 billion by 2100. This will be due to our investments in poverty alleviation, gender equity, education and health, ameliorating inequality, and food and energy security.

The report also clarified that these population predictions are more optimistic than the kind of historic fear-mongering and regressive development policies engendered by the ‘population bomb’ metaphor.

It also stated that population alone was never the problem for sustainability, nor will it be for the climate crisis.

What do these findings mean?

These findings proposed that the better and more equitable policies we make today, the lower the earth’s human population will be later this century. 

However, the researchers have been cautious to warn that a declining population alone won’t address the issues surrounding the climate crisis.

How does this report compare to other reports?

The report contradicted the UN ‘World Populations Prospects 2022’ report which predicted that the global population would steadily rise to 10.4 billion in 2080 and then stabilize around that number in 2100.

The UN report also said that India would surpass China as the most populous country in 2023.

India’s own National Family Health Survey estimated India’s total fertility rate to be 2.1 (lower in urban centres). 

These scenarios present India with a unique challenge: on the one hand, it will have a very large ‘young population’ (18-35-year-olds) that is also un- or under-employed, but on the other, it is dealing with rapidly declining fertility and a skewed women-to-men demographic ratio.

Indian-American C.R. Rao wins Nobel Prize equivalent in statistics

Source: The post is based on the article “Indian-American C.R. Rao wins Nobel Prize equivalent in statistics” published in The Hindu on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

Indian-American statistician Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao has been awarded the 2023 International Prize in Statistics often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Statistics.

What is the International Prize in Statistics?

The International Prize in Statistics is awarded every two years by a collaboration among five leading international statistics organizations. 

The prize recognizes a major achievement by an individual or team in the statistics field, particularly the achievement of powerful and original ideas that have led to practical applications and breakthroughs in other disciplines.

Why was C R Rao awarded the International Prize in Statistics?

He was awarded for his groundbreaking paper, ‘Information and accuracy attainable in the estimation of statistical parameters’ published in 1945. It demonstrated three fundamental results that paved the way for the modern field of statistics:

Cramér-Rao lower bound: It provides a means for knowing when a method for estimating a quantity is as good as any method can be.

Rao-Blackwell Theorem: It provides a means for transforming an estimate into a better—in fact, an optimal—estimate.

Information geometry: It integrated principles from differential geometry into statistics, including the concepts of metric, distance, and measure.

– Note: Information geometry has recently been used to aid the understanding and optimization of Higgs boson measurements at the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator.

Language Friendship Bridge Project: India to bridge language gap with neighbours

Source: The post is based on the article “India to bridge language gap with neighbours” published in The Hindu on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR) has planned a special project called ‘The Language Friendship Bridge’.

What is the Language Friendship Bridge Project?

Aim: To create a pool of experts in languages spoken in countries like Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Indonesia to facilitate better people-to-people exchanges.

Under the project, ICCR has planned to train five to 10 people in the official languages of each of these countries.

– As of now, the ICCR has zeroed in on 10 languages: Kazakh, Uzbek, Bhutanese, Ghoti (spoken in Tibet), Burmese, Khmer (spoken in Cambodia), Thai, Sinhalese and Bahasa (spoken in both Indonesia and Malaysia).

What is the need for this project?

In India, the language learning focus till now has been on European languages like Spanish, French and German, along with the languages of major Asian economies like China and Japan.

However, the focus on other languages like kazak, Sinhalese, Bhutanese have been very less. Only a handful of universities teach these languages, Sinhala, for example, is taught at the Banaras Hindu University and the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) under the Ministry of Defence. 

Hence, considering our cultural imprints in these countries, India cannot afford to ignore the languages of these countries.

How will the project be implemented?

ICCR has discussed two possibilities for implementing this project:

One is to institute tie-ups wherein teachers from these countries come and teach courses in India.

The second approach is ICCR offering scholarships to Indian students to go and study these languages in the countries where they are spoken.

Language experts feel that the second option is the better one as a proper cultural environment is needed to learn a language in its entirety. 

Astronomers used machine learning to mine data from South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope: What they found

Source: The post is based on the article “Astronomers used machine learning to mine data from South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope: What they found” published in the DTE on 7th April 2023.

What is the News?

Recently, astronomers used machine learning to mine data from South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope.

About MeerKAT telescope

It was originally known as the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT) which would consist of 20 receptors. At present, it is having an array of 64 interlinked receptors.

Located in: South Africa’s Northern Cape province.

Significance: It is a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope.

Applications: It uses radio signals from space to study the evolution of the universe and everything it contains.

What astronomers found using machine learning on MeerKAT Telescope?

Astronomers used a coding framework called Astronomoly and found Odd Radio Circle (ORC). Astronomers named this circle as SAURON (a Steep and Uneven Ring Of Non-thermal Radiation).

These are very large mysterious objects that are highly circular and bright along the edges at radio wavelengths. Though these ORCs are bright at radio wavelengths, they cannot be observed at visible, infrared or X-ray wavelengths.

What is Machine learning?

Bowenpally’s Biogas Plant: Telangana Generates Electricity from Vegetable Waste

Source: The post is based on the article “Telangana Generates Electricity from Vegetable Waste” published in the PIB on 9th April 2023.

What is the News?

In a recent Mann Ki Baat episode, the Prime Minister praised the Bowenpally Vegetable Market and Bowenpally’s Biogas Plant for its electricity generation from vegetable waste.

About Bowenpally’s Biogas Plant

The waste generated (rotten and unsold vegetables) in the Bowenpally vegetable market and nearby yards are collected from across the city. Nearly 10 tons of waste is collected every day.

This is converted into the major source of electricity for the vegetable market and biofuel for the market’s commercial kitchen. Bio Manure is obtained, apart from the gas, as a by-product.

Benefits: a) generates employment for women and locals, b) reduce the electricity bill, c) liquid bio manure is being used as fertilizer in the farmers’ fields, d) created large-scale awareness of the use of a sustainable system to generate biofuel, and e) encourages more and more cities to take up similar projects for the transformation of urban landscape.

Significance: Department of Biotechnology announced further funding to establish five more similar plants in different market yards with varying capacities suitable for the generated market waste.