Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

• India becoming most populous nation – is it a bane or boon?

GS Paper 2

GS Paper 3

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

India becoming most populous nation – is it a bane or boon?

News: India has now become the world’s most populous nation by overtaking China. There have always been arguments regarding controlling population growth as high population acts a bane for the nation.

What steps have been taken to control India’s population?

During the Emergency years, an attempt was even made to force compulsory sterilization. Vasectomy or tubectomy camps were run in the larger interests of the nation.

After China declared its One Child policy, many among the Indian elite campaigned in favor of such a policy in India.

However, the government of that time rejected the “one-child” policy and launched “Do Ya Teen Bas” followed by “Hum Do, Hamarey Do” campaigns.

How did population control begin in India?

The change in the population discourse began when both fertility and birth rates began to fall in the socially advanced states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

This was caused due to increasing literacy, education and health status of women, among other factors.

Moreover, as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), the total fertility rate (TFR) declined to 2.0 in 2019-21. This was marginally below the “replacement level fertility rate” of 2.1.

What are the consequences of rising population?

Rising population affects a wide range of areas such as economic policy, trade policy, internal and external migration, political demographics, demand for public services, the use of natural resources and inter-regional variations in growth.

India’s multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral trade agreements have been demanding access to overseas jobs and employment visas.

This implies that Indians instead of becoming assets for India, are becoming assets for the economic growth of the US, Australia, Japan, etc.

How can the rising population become an asset for India?

The Nobel Prize-winning economist, Milton Friedman was invited by then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1955 to study the Indian approach to planning and offer his views.

Friedman was not in favour of public investment in manufacturing, but strongly advocated public investment in education.

He argued that in any economy, the major source of productive power is not machinery, equipment, buildings and other physical capital but it is the productive capacity of the human beings who compose the society.

Hence, Friedman asked Nehru to invest in human capital because an ill-educated, ill-equipped, socially and culturally backward people are an economic liability.

Whereas, educated, healthy, productive and capable people are a national asset.

What measures can be adopted by the government to utilize its human capital?

Expenditures that improve the productive capacity of human beings are usually not considered as investment in India.

Moreover, out-migration of students has risen sharply over the past decade and policy makers are not worried about creating a knowledge-based economy and society.

Therefore, India needs to invest in its human capital including education because a nation that cannot offer proper education to all will forever find population a bane rather than a boon.

GS Paper 2

About setting up new nursing colleges: Why it is good to have more nurses

News: Recently the government decided to set up 157 nursing colleges and announced a new policy for medical devices. The move will add more than 15,000 nursing seats.

About the government’s decision

What is the rationale behind new nursing colleges and policy for medical devices?

Lack of nurses for population: The WHO recommends three nurses for a population of 1,000 people. According to official estimates, India currently has less than two nurses for 1,000 people.

A private report last year mentioned that the number of allied healthcare professionals needs to go up eight times to meet the country’s needs in the next 25 years.

Lack of enough investment: China and India have roughly similar population sizes. India’s medical technology market is about 20% of that in China. Moreover, only 15% of medical devices consumed here are made domestically.

What are the advantages of new nursing colleges and policy for medical devices?

Address the skew in nursing colleges: More than 40% of the country’s nursing colleges are located in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are getting a major share of the new nursing colleges.

Ensure enough manpower for new initiatives: The government has been giving emphasis to setting up hospitals and medical colleges, including AIIMS, in many places to address regional imbalances. The private sector has also been increasing its footprint in the healthcare sector. These hospitals will require a regular supply of nurses.

Enhance the revenue-generating capacity of potential migrants: Migrant nurses have been, for many decades, a major source of remittance. These professionals are much sought after in hospitals in Europe, the Americas and West Asia. So, investing in nursing education will only enhance the revenue-generating capacity of Indians.

Make medical devices affordable: Getting policy, particularly making manufacturing right, will help in making healthcare more affordable. Any policy that increases the domestic scale and efficiency of diagnostic devices will address affordability issues in healthcare provision.

What more should be done?

Ensure proper training: a) India needs to equip these new nurses with enough skill sets required in a medical setup, b) India should facilitate proper communication training to avoid hostility between patients and healthcare professionals, c) India should equip caregivers with knowledge of the rapidly changing technologies in medical care, and d) Nursing institutes in the country currently do not provide nurses with adequate training to take up leadership positions. Hence, it should be provided.

Collaborate with states: The Centre at present support for four medical parks. But this is inadequate. Similarly, domestic manufacturing faces a challenge on account of high costs.

All the challenges can be reduced if both states and the Centre work together to establish industrial parks for medical devices. With this, critical infrastructure expenses can be shared.

The domestic market size in 2020 was $11 billion. The government hopes that the medical devices policy will push it up to $50 billion by 2030.

What the wrestlers’ protest says about power and politics in India

News– The top national- and international-level wrestlers to once again sit on a protest dharna at Jantar Mantar. They are accusing the WFI President of sexual harassment of women players.

What are the issues faced by women sports persons that are depicted by the current events?

The State and its agencies are the biggest violators of the law, especially the laws enacted to ensure the rights of women.

The obstacles faced in initiating the process of seeking justice are so daunting that the majority opt out after their initial efforts.

There is blatant misuse of official position and use of muscle power by the accused to intimidate and silence those speaking up.

There is a lack of political will to implement the law on the part of the state. This ensures that justice is neither certain, nor speedy and almost denied. The result is that perpetrators of violence against women are never punished.

It highlights the situation in the institutional set up of the Wrestling Federation of India.

The top sports bodies in India are dominated by politicians or their scions. The violators use their political clout to bully the complainants into silence.

There are threats to life, character assassination and everyday harassment and disrespect for women sports persons who file complaints. This is in clear violation of the 2013 POSH Act and Vishaka Guidelines.

When complaints lodged by international players meet with such a fate, it gives the wrong signal to remain silent to other women who suffer such violation of their rights.

Darwin must stay in Indian school textbooks

News- The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) dropped Darwin’s theory from the examination syllabus for Class 9 and 10 students in the academic year 2021-22

Darwin’s theory explains the origin of human beings.

Why are the shortcomings in our approach to teaching Darwin theory?

The first thing that is neglected is the influence of other people on Darwin.

Darwin was strongly influenced by geologist Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology. Lyell studied glaciers, volcanoes and fossils, and proposed the concept of “gradual geological change”. Geological objects today result from minute changes accumulating over a period of time.

Lamarck, the French naturalist proposed his own theory of evolution before Darwin. It also portrayed evolution as a process that included accumulation of changes over time. Darwin seems to invoke the same Lamarckian theory of use and disuse.

Darwin was influenced by social beliefs of his times. Darwin’s theory was an extension of laissez-faire economics. The term was conceived by economist Adam Smith and developed by Thomas Malthus. It referred to self-interest and free competition in the marketplace.

Malthus also propounded a theory of population in 1798. He claimed that humans compete for limited resources until a catastrophic event leads to a decline in their population.

Darwin was greatly influenced by Malthus’ ideas of competition in an environment with limited resources. Thus, only those living beings survive that carry variations that give them an edge over others.

Another grave omission in the teaching of the theory of evolution is the consequent use of his theory both by others and Darwin himself.

For instance, Herbert Spencer’s idea of “survival of the fittest”, proposed in 1864, coalesced eventually into a philosophy called “social Darwinism”.

In his later book, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, Darwin claimed that men have evolved to be naturally more intelligent since they have had to continuously use their mental power.

Why must students and teachers in school concern themselves with the above aspects of Darwin’s theory?

These examples carry crucial insights into science in both the historical and contemporary world.

Science is shaped by the social and cultural beliefs of its times, to which it also actively contributes.

These examples remind us that science is a messy affair that requires caution alongside curiosity, creativity and imagination.

GS Paper 3

Performance of SEBI: Sebi at age 31. Or is it 35?

News: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently unveiled a new logo on the occasion of its 35th anniversary. However, the Sebi Act came in 1992, which is only 31 years ago.

About the history of SEBI

The journey of SEBI can be seen as emanating from the G S Patel committee of 1984. In 1988, a non-statutory SEBI was constituted, through an administrative resolution of the Government of India. In 1992, Parliament passed the SEBI Act.

Significance of SEBI’s formation: a) The statutory SEBI of 1992 is the first regulator in India to be legislatively autonomous in the area of human resource and finance, b) SEBI was the first of the full and modern regulators in India.

About the performance of SEBI

No market scams: Since the Ketan Parekh scandal of the early 2000s, there have been no serious market scams under its watch.

Impressive rise of Market capitalisation: The gross domestic product to market capitalisation ratio, which was 0.123 in 1989-90 had risen to 1.115 in 2021-22.

Other areas: Such as assets under management of mutual funds, the total number of dematerialised accounts, dematerialised turnover, number of derivatives contracts, etc, have all grown exponentially.

Financial reforms also played a role in these improvements primarily through (a) the reduction of capital controls and (b) the emergence of equity market liquidity and market efficiency.

What are the challenges SEBI need to work upon?

Issue with the turnover ratio: The turnover ratio (TR) is calculated by dividing the trading volume of the latest one year by the current market capitalisation.

The baseline adopted for the turnover ratio is of 2003-04. In 2003-04, the trading volume of the spot market was ~11.86 trillion and the turnover ratio was 1.34. In 2022-23, the corresponding values were ~25.8 trillion and 0.54.

Over this 20-year period, the turnover ratio of the Indian equity spot market actually went down. This requires fresh thinking about the functioning of SEBI and the exchanges.

What more should be done?

Focus on market performance: Financial economic policy should focus less on the market capitalisation of the equity market, and more on the extent to which the securities markets are deep and liquid. The key attributes of this are market depth, market resiliency and market efficiency.

Overall, India needs to create better regulations governing the working of the equity market to generate better liquidity and market efficiency.

Finance is the binding constraint in efforts to fight climate change

News: Countries around the world are adopting climate mitigation technologies to tackle climate change. However, climate finance still remains a hindrance towards adopting such technologies.

What are different climate mitigation technologies being adopted and what are the concerns associated with them?

Renewable Power: The most mitigation technologies being adopted are solar, wind, hydropower, etc. The cost of solar panels, wind turbines, storage batteries and other components have declined dramatically such that the cost of renewable power is now comparable to fossil-fuel based power.

However, despite the low cost of renewable power, renewable energy still accounts for only around 15% of global power generation. 

Green Hydrogen: The cost of green hydrogen has been dependent on the cost of electrolyzers, which has come down, making green hydrogen commercially viable and attracting large-scale corporate investment, including in India.

However, despite this, the rollout of green hydrogen on a scale is just starting.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CSS): CCS technologies are needed to capture carbon and store it till it can be broken down for commercial use.

However, existing CSS technologies are very expensive. Much investment is required in R&D to reduce costs before CSS technologies become commercially viable.

Carbon Sink: Terrestrial and underwater forests are the natural carbon sinks that contain the carbon load in the atmosphere. But the level of emissions has gone far beyond the capacity of natural ‘carbon sinks’ to absorb the additional carbon load.

Hence, to lower the ambient carbon load and eventually reverse global warming, it is necessary to invest heavily in R&D to create technologies that synthetically imitate and improve the capacity of natural carbon sinks.

These all imply that vast amounts of capital are required to successfully address the climate crisis.

As per the Emission Gap Report 2022, the current annual investment in climate finance of about $571 billion needs to rise to at least $1.7-2 trillion.

What measures can be taken for climate finance?

First, Global public sector finance can be considered to finance global public goods.

However, the report of the G20-appointed Committee to Review the Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDBs) Capital Adequacy Framework indicates that MDBs may at best generate additional assistance of $1 trillion for all purposes. There is doubt even over this amount.

Second, Private capital may be relied upon and may act as an alternative to public capital. However, most of this capital originates in advanced countries and would not easily flow to tropical developing countries.

Third, along with private capital flows, developing countries must focus on creating a suitable ecosystem including universally accepted concepts, definitions and standards for climate finance, appropriate rating systems and technical assessment methodologies.

Fourth, developing countries will also require de-risking of such private capital flows, along with its attendant moral hazard. MDBs can play a crucial role by providing credit guarantees.

Not by ‘Vande Bharat’ alone

News– The article explains the overemphasis on Vande Bharat trains

What are the issues with railways in India?

The Annual Plan outlay of the Indian Railways was ₹1,09,935 crore in 2016-17 in the last Railway Budget. It has increased to ₹2,60,200 crore in the Budget for 2023-24. This is an increase of 137%

unprecedented levels of investment to build rail infrastructure are a welcome development. But these investments must translate into concrete progress towards capacity building.

There are issues related to passenger and freight traffic. The rail share of freight carried was reduced from 51.5.% in 2008-09 to 32.4% in 2018-19 for leads over 300 km. Almost the entire increase in volume of traffic carried by rail over the decade 2008-09 to 2018-19 has been in short lead traffic.

55% of the increase was through the transport of just one commodity, that is coal. The higher levels of traffic being achieved is not accompanied by diversification of commodities.

There are issues related to punctuality. Published statistics for punctuality usually are above 90%. But these figures are adjusted and only the destination arrival time is considered.

More than a decade ago, an exercise was undertaken to know the status of all passenger trains in the Indian Railways network on a real time basis. The punctuality of all passenger-carrying trains at any given time hovered around 60%.

What is the way forward to improve the performance of the Indian railway?

The National Rail Plan 2030 envisages raising the rail share in freight traffic vis-à-vis roadways from 27% to 45% by 2050. It calls for raising the average speed of goods trains to 50 kilometres per hour from the present 25 kmph and reduction in tariff rates for freight by up to 30%.

There is a need for a radical shift in punctuality. Stations in the Indian Railways network can be remodelled to ‘international standards. Japanese Railways reckon the punctuality of their high-speed trains in seconds. The Indian Railways should aim to be at least within five minutes of the scheduled time.

There is a need to move away from the traditional concept of destination punctuality and evolve an index of punctuality that will also reflect the punctuality at select intermediate stations. With developments in IT and data analytics, this should be possible.

The government should consider tabling an annual report on the performance of the Railways in Parliament on the lines of the annual Economic Survey prepared by the Finance Ministry ahead of the General Budget.

Should India consider phasing out nuclear power?

News– The article explains the relevance of nuclear power for future energy needs.

What is the global scenario of nuclear energy?

The use of nuclear power is rising even in Europe and the U.S. China has been surging ahead on nuclear power.

South Korea’s new president has changed the energy policy and committed to increasing the share of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix to 30% by 2030.

Japan is restarting nuclear reactors. 10 have been restarted following years of inspection and upgrading safety systems.

The U.K. has said that without scaling up nuclear power, it won’t be possible to decarbonise the electricity sector.

What is the outlook for nuclear power, especially when solar and wind power are becoming far more popular?

Nuclear will have to be included in a mix of energy sources. It is firm, dispatchable power, while wind and solar are intermittent or variable. Some people say batteries will be the answer. But batteries are very expensive and have an environmental impact.

unless something can displace it entirely. There is no firm alternative to coal power to date.

Resistance to nuclear energy is also driven by fears about safety, nuclear proliferation. Some of those remain, but a lot has been diminished, partly post-Ukraine. The nuclear industry is moving towards ‘passive safety’ designs.

Older designs required active cooling pumps. But, new systems will gradually and gracefully control temperature, even if power fails. There are also coal mine disasters, transport disasters, and local air pollution.

Another challenge is cost. That is an area of worry, because of cost overruns. But now there are new designs like small modular reactors. There is a belief that this will address the cost structure quite a bit.

What are safety issues regarding radioactivity from spent fuels and nuclear liability issues?

One of the things that need to be realised is the amount of fuel. Kudankulam requires only 25 tonnes of low enriched uranium fuel over a year.

Compared to it, coal plants of similar capacity require approximately five million tonnes of coal, and coal produces ash. Power plants in the country have huge ash ponds. Ash also contains many heavy metals, which are detrimental to the water source.

Regarding nuclear liability, it is not money. But in case of an accident, the supplier of components to the nuclear plant is exposed to various liabilities, including criminal liability. That is something which basically no Western company will accept.

What are the steps needed to be taken for proper use of nuclear energy potential in India?

India has very limited growth potential for hydropower because of conserving biodiversity and the costs of rehabilitating and compensating landowners.

The alternative to coal is nuclear power. India has 210 gigawatts of coal capacity, and it produces 73% of electricity of India. Nuclear is only around 3.2%. Business as usual cannot continue.

One of the major reasons for the lack of growth in nuclear power is because of monopoly. All reactors are operated by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. There is a need for a civilian nuclear programme.

Other government companies like the NTPC should be allowed to produce nuclear power. To achieve ‘net zero’ by 2070, there is a need for 100 gigawatts by 2050.

There is a need for a combination of small modular reactors and large reactors, but it cannot be done by one company. It has to be done by multiple companies.

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

There is a need for a range of options. Energy is not going to be the one thing that solves all our problems. It’s going to be a mix of supply side and demand side. There is a need for a portfolio of technologies within the nuclear sector and outside the nuclear sector.

The energy policy should be about enabling frameworks for all technologies. It should not be a bet for one technology.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Wrestlers in SC against Delhi Police: What the law says about filing of FIR in sexual harassment cases

Source: The post is based on the article “Wrestlers in SC against Delhi Police: What the law says about filing of FIR in sexual harassment cases” published in the Indian Express on 28th April 2023.

News: The wrestlers submitted the complaints to the Delhi police, but no FIR was filed. Following which they approached the court. The Supreme Court recently issued notice to Delhi Police on a petition filed by wrestlers seeking an FIR against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and an MP on allegations of sexual harassment.

What the law says about filing of FIR in sexual harassment cases?

Sections pertaining to sexual harassment and sexual assault of the Indian Penal Code fall within the category of cognizable offences.

About Criminal Law (Amendment) Act: Justice J S Verma Committee or Report of the Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law recommended insertion of a section where if an officer-in-charge of a police station refuses ‘or without reasonable cause’ fails to record information related to a cognizable offence, he shall be punished.

Based on the committee’s recommendation, section 166A was inserted in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. The section states that if a public servant knowingly disobeys any direction of law including failing to record any information given to him in relation to a cognizable offence, rigorous imprisonment for a term of minimum six months and maximum two years can be given, and he shall also be liable to paying a fine.

About POCSO Act: The POCSO Act mandates reporting of sexual offences against children. Section 19 of the Act states that any person who has an apprehension that an offence under POCSO Act has been committed shall provide such information to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the local police. The section also requires the registration of an FIR. The Act also makes it mandatory for a report to be filed on receiving a complaint, including from a child.

Other provisions: The law also has provision for the registration of a ‘Zero FIR’, where even if the alleged offence has not been committed within the jurisdiction of the police station approached, the police can file an FIR and transfer it to the police station concerned.

What are the remedies available if police refuse to file an FIR?

A person can send the information to the Superintendent of Police. The SP shall either investigate the case herself or direct for a probe by any police officer subordinate to her.

A complaint can be made before a magistrate. The magistrate court can then order registration of a case at the police station. The complaint before the magistrate would be treated as an FIR and the police can initiate its investigation.

About the previous case on filing of FIR

SC in Lalita Kumari vs Govt of UP and ors case, 2013, analysed whether the police officer is bound to file an FIR for information received of a cognizable offence or does the officer have the power to conduct a ‘preliminary inquiry’ to test the veracity of the information before registering an FIR. In this the court held that an FIR under section 154 CrPC is mandatory if information of a cognizable offence is received.

The court also said that the only scope of preliminary inquiry is to ascertain whether the information reveals any cognizable offence or not. The court said that an inquiry should not exceed seven days.

State of the Global Climate 2022: The threat of rising sea levels

Source: The post is based on the article “The threat of rising sea levels” published in The Hindu on 28th April 2023

What is the News?

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has released a report titled ‘State of the Global Climate 2022’.

What does the report say about sea level rise?

The world’s sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate. The rate of global mean sea-level [GSML] rise has doubled between the first decade of the satellite record and the last.

For instance, the rate of sea-level rise was 2.27 mm/year in 1993-2002, it has increased to 4.62 mm/year in 2013-2022.

The report also says that the earth’s ice cover, known as the cryosphere has thinned. 

Note: The cryosphere includes the Arctic and Antarctic regions (called “sea ice”), glaciers, the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica (area of ice on land covering more than 50,000 km2), seasonal snow cover and permafrost (mass of land that remains below 0 degree Celsius for at least two straight years).

What causes accelerated sea-level rise?

The report points to the following factors as being responsible for a rising GSML:

-Ice loss from glaciers and ice sheets

-Ocean warming: As increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases drive global warming, 90% of the ‘extra’ heat is stored in the oceans. This leads to ocean warming. And as the ocean heats up, it undergoes thermal expansion, which in turn leads to a rise in the GSML. 

-Changes in the storage of land water.

What problems will sea level rise cause?

Firstly, the rising sea level will cause changes in land cover. This means rising seas will swallow more of the land cover particularly in coastal areas. Due to this, the coastal communities will face an acute shortage of land for human use.

Secondly, weather formations such as cyclones are known to typically originate in the open seas. As the GSML continues to rise, along with a rise in ocean temperatures, the chances of cyclones could increase.

– This will affect coastal communities and leads to large economic liabilities for tropical countries such as India and South Africa, which have high population densities.

Thirdly, as the GSML continues to rise, more seawater could seep into the ground, leading to the groundwater — which is usually freshwater — turning more and more saline.

How will sea level rise affect societies?

Due to sea level rise, the coastal ecosystems could be “completely changed”.

For example, in the Sundarbans delta in West Bengal, the world’s largest mangrove area, rising sea levels and coastal erosion has left more islands submerged underwater and that, in turn, has forced members of local communities to migrate.

This endangered the socio-economic stability of these coastal communities. This in turn has led to increased child trafficking in the Sundarbans area.

Sudan conflict: Who are the Rapid Security Forces, up in arms against the country’s military

Source: The post is based on the article “Sudan conflict: Who are the Rapid Security Forces, up in arms against the country’s military” published in Indian Express on 28th April 2023

What is the News?

Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group have been involved in a fierce battle against each other in Sudan leaving at least 420 people dead and more than 3,700 wounded.

Where is Sudan?

Sudan is a country in Northeast Africa bordering the Red Sea. 

It is bordered by the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south and the Red Sea.

It is Africa’s third-largest country by area. Its capital city is Khartoum, and its most populous city is Omdurman (part of the metropolitan area of Khartoum).

The population of Sudan is predominantly Muslim and the country’s official languages are Arabic and English.

What is happening in Sudan?

Click Here to read

What is Rapid Support Forces(RSF)?

RSF has evolved from so-called Janjaweed militias which fought in a conflict in the 2000s in the Darfur region where they were used by the then Sudan government to help the army put down a rebellion.

Over time, the militia grew. It was made into the RSF in 2013, and its forces were used as border guards in particular.

In 2017, a law legitimizing the RSF as an independent security force was passed. Analysts have estimated the RSF to have about 100,000 fighters.

The RSF has been accused of human rights abuses, including the massacre of more than 120 protesters in June 2019.

What is the conflict between the army and RSF?

The conflict between the army and RSF stems from a disagreement over how the RSF should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process. 

The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement with political groups.

A flamboyance of lesser flamingos have arrived at Chennai’s Pulicat

Source: The post is based on the article “A flamboyance of lesser flamingos have arrived at Chennai’s Pulicat” published in The Hindu on 28th April 2023

What is the News?

After a six-year absence, the lesser flamingos have finally arrived at Pulicat Lake.

What are Lesser Flamingos?

The Lesser flamingo is the smallest of all flamingos.

They possess the “hallux” or hind toe that some other flamingos do not have. Males are a little taller than females.

They are rare migratory birds from the sub-Saharan region in Africa.

They are found in alkaline lakes and coastal lagoons where they gather in huge flocks to eat microscopic blue-green algae.

IUCN Status: Near Threatened

What is Pulicat Lake?

Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish water lagoon in India, (after Chilika Lake).

The lake is located on the border between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The lake encompasses the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary. 

The barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lake from the Bay of Bengal. 

The rivers Swarnamukhi and Kalangi in the north and the Arani and the Korttalaiyar (as the Kosasthalaiyar is referred to in old British era documents) in the south drain into Pulicat Lake during the monsoon. 

Railway network in 14 states 100% electrified in FY23, Northeast lags

Source: The post is based on the article “Railway network in 14 states 100% electrified in FY23, Northeast lags” published in Business Standard on 27th April 2023

What is the News?

Indian Railways has completed 90% electrification of its broad-gauge(BG) network as of March 31, 2023.

– Note: Gauge refers to the vertical length between railway tracks, with various measurements used across the globe for train operations.

About Electrification of Broad Gauge (BG) Network of Railways

Indian Railways has set a target to complete the Electrification of its Broad gauge network by December 2023.

Till now, it has fully electrified the BG network of 14 states and union territories (UTs).

The pace of electrification between 2014 and 2019 was 7.5 rkm per day which doubled to 15.3 rkm per day between 2020 and 2022.

In FY23, this pace rose further to 18 rkm per day, the highest the national transporter has managed in a single year.

However, the progress in the Northeast, barring Meghalaya is in contrast to the success elsewhere as five states were yet to have a single track electrified.

What are the benefits of the Electrification of the BG network of Railways?

Electrification offers numerous benefits, including saving over Rs 150 crore on fuel bill every year, seamless operations, pollution-free mode of transport and increase average speed.

India and UK to jointly create India-UK ‘NET Zero’ Innovation Virtual Centre

Source: The post is based on the article “India and UK to jointly create India-UK ‘NET Zero’ Innovation Virtual Centre” published in PIB on 27th April 2023

What is the News?

The India-UK Science & Innovation Council meeting was recently held.

What are the key highlights from the India-UK Science & Innovation Council meeting?

India and the UK have decided to create an India-UK “NET Zero” Innovation Virtual Centre which will provide a platform to bring stakeholders from both countries together to work in some of the focus areas including Decarbonization of manufacturing process & transport systems and Green Hydrogen as renewable source.

The two countries will also join hands for launching the first ever UK-India scientific ‘deep sea voyage (for carrying out scientific studies) and ‘space parks‘ (manufacturing hub for space-related technology) partnership.

India has been named as a partner for the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund, carrying forward the UK-India science partnership built through the Newton-Bhabha fund.

– Note: International Science Partnerships Fund has been set up by the UK to support collaborations between UK researchers and innovators and their peers from around the world.

PRET: WHO launches initiative to make world better prepared for future pandemics

Source: The post is based on the article “PRET: WHO launches initiative to make world better prepared for future pandemics” published in Down To Earth on 27th April 2023

What is the News?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) Initiative.

What is Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) Initiative?

Launched by: World Health Organization (WHO) 

Aim: To be better prepared for future outbreaks of a similar scale and devastation as the COVID-19 pandemic.

– To provide guidance on integrated planning for responding to any respiratory pathogen such as influenza or coronaviruses.

Approach: The three-pronged approach of PRET includes:

– Updating preparedness plans that affirm priority actions

– Increase connectivity among stakeholders in pandemic preparedness planning through systematic coordination and cooperation and dedicate sustained investments and

– Financing and monitoring of pandemic preparedness with a special focus on bridging the lacunes highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Significance of the initiative: The PRET Initiative ushers in a new era for pandemic preparedness and represents an evolution of WHO’s core activities to support all member states in strengthening health emergency preparedness, prevention, and response capacities and capabilities. 

– The initiative can also serve to operationalize the objectives and provisions of the Pandemic Accord, which is currently being negotiated by WHO Member States.