Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

• Each of Earth’s tectonic plates has its own history

GS Paper 2

• Spotlight again on Doklam: India-Bhutan relationship and why China remains the dragon in the room
• India must be alert to China’s cartographic deception in Arunachal Pradesh
• What Our Embassies Owe Indian Mothers Abroad

GS Paper 3

• Express View on IT Rules amendments: Government sets itself up as judge, jury and executioner
• Science for all – LIGO-India must contribute to the communities it needs sustenance from
• ‘India is well within its right to ensure quality’
• Some advice to India on the IFA negotiations

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Govt to provide financial aid to prisoners who can’t afford bail
• Mission to map rural India’s cultural assets covers over one lakh villages
• E-monitoring roads: unpaid fines driving govt. Rethink
• Efforts on to get satellite radio collar for ‘Arikompan’ before translocation
• A megafauna bias in India’s carnivore research is hampering the country’s conservations efforts
• A new measurement could change understanding of the Universe: Study
• Drugmakers get more time to join ‘Track and Trace’ system for exports
• Changes in domestic gas pricing formula: Math, rationale, and how consumers are affected
• What’s Hikikomori? Why 15 lakh Japanese are living in isolation?

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

Each of Earth’s tectonic plates has its own history

News: The article discusses various geographical feature of the Earth.

What is a mantle?

It is the layer between the crust and the core at Earth’s centre. The mantle is solid rock and composes the majority of the volume of our planet. This rock is slowly convecting, like a boiling pot of water.

Motions of the rock over very long periods of time are closely tied to the movement of tectonic plates on Earth’s surface. Such plate motions then give us earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

What are the effects of tectonic plate movements?

Tectonic plate system with plates moving all over, collide, rip apart and modify lithosphere.

The Himalayan Mountain range was caused by the collision of the Indian plate with Eurasia. The force which built up this range caused the lithosphere and crust to thicken. Currently, India is moving north at a rate of 3.5 cm each year.

What are the effects of gravity?

Gravity acts on plates and can cause mountain ranges over tens of millions of years to very slowly collapse. Gravity operates deep beneath Earth to remove elements of the lithosphere.

In certain locations, small pieces that are cold and thick in comparison to the mantle drop off the bottom due to gravity. This is a process of modifying the lithosphere.

What is a subduction zone?

Under this, the oceanic part of the tectonic plates gets recycled back into the mantle.

The oceanic crust gets formed at mid-ocean ridges and destroyed and recycled at a subduction zone, where one oceanic plate sinks into the mantle. The driving force is gravity. 

This is a way Earth recycles material from its surface to its interior and vice versa.

A lot of Earth’s carbon cycle is controlled by subduction. Carbon also gets locked into limestone rocks which are absorbed back into Earth’s interior. Subduction zones are the prime sites for geologic hazards like earthquakes and tsunamis.

Which part of India is more vulnerable to earthquakes?

Many regions become prone to earthquakes because of tectonic plates. The northern part of India and its surrounding countries are more vulnerable as they are located on a major plate boundary where quakes occur.

People in such zones should be prepared with sustainable building, resilient infrastructure and keeping emergency communications and aid measures ready and handy to minimize damage.

Must Read: Lessons from Turkey: How to make India earthquake prepared

Source: The Times of India

GS Paper 2

Spotlight again on Doklam: India-Bhutan relationship and why China remains the dragon in the room

News– Recently, Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck visited India.

What are recent developments in Bhutan-China relations?

In an interview, Prime Minister Tshering said Bhutan and China had come to understand each other and were close to resolving their boundary disputes.

Tshering denied there were Chinese incursions in Bhutan’s territory. There exist no Chinese installations in Bhutan and there is no intrusion in the Bhutan territory.

As per Bhutan PM, Doklam is a junction point between India, China, and Bhutan. It is not up to Bhutan alone to solve the problem. There are three equal countries, each counting for a third. As soon as the other two parties are also ready, Bhutan is ready to discuss the border dispute.

The two sides have agreed to simultaneously push forward the implementation of all the steps of the Three-Step Roadmap.

The “Three-Step Roadmap for Expediting the China-Bhutan Boundary Negotiations” refers to an agreement reached between the two countries in April 2021.

The two sides have also agreed to increase the frequency of the Expert Group Meetings and to keep contact through diplomatic channels.

In January, Bhutan and China had held talks in Kunming as part of an ongoing dialogue on the border issue.

Kunming talks focussed on Doklam and areas near the India-Bhutan-China trijunction in the west, and the Jakarlung and Pasamlung pasturelands in the north.

What is the Indian position on Bhutan and Doklam issue?

Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra reiterated that Tshering had not said anything different from India’s own position on this issue.

S Jaishankar in 2017-18  referred to the “Common Understanding” reached between the Special Representatives of New Delhi and Beijing. As per it, trijunction boundary points would be finalised in consultation with those third countries.

India holds that the 2017 Chinese actions in Doklam amounted to an attempt to change the Bhutan-China border unilaterally. Therefore, it violated two agreements with Bhutan in 1988 and 1998.

New Delhi has always held that an agreement between Bhutan and China is the sovereign decision of the two counties. Bhutan is mindful of Indian concerns.

There is close consultation and coordination between the two sides on security issues of mutual interest. This is also written into the 2007 Treaty of Friendship.

What is the Chinese stand on Doklam?

China wants to move the tri junction point from Batang La further south to Gyomochen. It is a violation of the 2012 agreement with India. Control of this area would give China a strategic advantage over India. it will bring China closer to the “chicken’s neck”.

Beijing wants a land swap with China. It wants to get Doklam in exchange for concessions on disputed territory in the north.

China looks at Bhutan as a pressure point on India. Beijing’s renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh, and its “freeze” on the visas of two Indian journalists, came during the King’s visit to India.

What are the concerns of India on recent developments in Bhutan and China relations?

A China-Bhutan agreement on the boundary, especially if it includes Doklam, would have direct and immediate implications for India’s security.

Tshering’s denial of Chinese incursions in Bhutanese territory has surprised New Delhi. Chinese villages and infrastructure have come up in Doklam.

For more readings– https://forumias.com/blog/india-bhutan-relations-and-its-significance

India must be alert to China’s cartographic deception in Arunachal Pradesh

News– Recently, China renamed some places in Arunachal Pradesh.

How has China been consistently involved in cartographic deceptions?

In the early 1950s, China started indulging in cartographic deception. It made claims to large parts of Indian territory. The Indian leadership looked at these claims as a negotiable misunderstanding and trusted Zhou Enlai.

India introduced “forward policy” in October 1962 to assert Indian authority over territories. Nehru believed that the Chinese would never attack India. In 1959, he condemned the British Tibetan expert George Patterson for spreading rumours about the Chinese.

Presently, President Xi Jinping continues to follow the old Maoist strategy of violating sovereign national boundaries of neighbours using cartography as a weapon.

The recent renaming of villages, unpopulated areas, rivers and hills in Arunachal Pradesh by the State Council is another example of that cartographic deception.

Is there any basis for the Chinese historical climate over Arunachal Pradesh?

Never in known history did Arunachal Pradesh have any remote contact with China. There was never any Chinese presence there.

Tibetans from Lhasa used to travel to Kolkata via Sikkim and sail onwards to mainland China. At most, the Monpas of Tawang spoke Tibetan.

The only time in recent history the Chinese army came close to Arunachal Pradesh’s borders was during the final years of the Qing dynasty in 1910-12. It entered Kham as part of a campaign to crush the revolt by the Khampas in eastern Ladakh.

Some pro-China historians claimed that Tawang was under the rule of Lhasa before 1950. The sixth Dalai Lama was born in Tawang in 1683. But, Tawang remained largely independent of any outside authority. Historical records also negate such claims.

Through the Shimla Agreement between the British and Tibetan governments in 1914, the McMahon Line became the international boundary between India and Tibet. Tawang fell south of the McMahon Line. The McMahon Line is branded as a “colonial” imposition by the Chinese.

What are the aspirations of local people of Arunachal Pradesh?

People of western Arunachal were never subjects of any outside power. They negotiated with the British when the latter made an outreach in the early 1900s.

After Independence, Indian administration focused on giving primacy to the development of the region rather than exerting authority. People in NEFA were more keen on some kind of a visible Indian authority over the region.

When the Chinese invaded Arunachal Pradesh in October 1962, they made special efforts to convince them about the greater racial affinity between them. But, the Chinese couldn’t win over the hearts and minds of the people of NEFA.

After the war Indian officials returned to the region in early 1963. People extended a warm welcome.

What Our Embassies Owe Indian Mothers Abroad

News: Indian families in European countries often face problems with their child being taken away by the child protection services (CPS). The children are put in foster care giving the reason that parents are unable to look after the child.

What is the recent case about?

A seven-month-old daughter was taken away from her parents in September 2021 by CPS in Germany because the baby suffered an injury in the perineum, the sensitive area between the vagina and the anus.

The family provided the explanation of the injury but it was rejected. The baby was put into foster care.

In February 2022, after a full investigation, police closed the case. But the baby was not restored to her parents.

Now, since CPS has not been able to prove charges of sexual abuse, it is trying to prove that the parents, especially the mother, are incapable of looking after their baby.

The parents’ plea that the child is being deprived of her religion and culture has been dismissed by CPS as being irrelevant.  Even the visiting hours of parents to their child in the foster have been cut.

CPS is pushing for the child to remain permanently in German foster care. In their opinion, the child will be unsafe if she returns to India.

The court has provided a window to the parents, the government and CPS to work out an agreement before the next scheduled hearing in May.

How has the Indian authority responded?

Usually, the Indian Embassy does not intervene in the cases which involve criminal charges like that of sexual abuse.

However, since the criminal charges have been taken away, it was required by the Indian Embassy to intervene into the matter.

The intervention of the foreign ministry is absolutely crucial in this case as the court has provided a window of agreement.

Further, only an official governmental intervention at the highest level brought babies’ back to their parents in the previous cases.

For example, Aryan came back to his parents in Norway in 2016 with the help of then Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and in 2011-12, the government intervention helped Sagarika to get her child back from foster care in Norway.

Therefore, the government must take urgent and required measures to bring the baby back to her parents and help other parents who are trapped in such cases.

GS Paper 3

Express View on IT Rules amendments: Government sets itself up as judge, jury and executioner

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?

Censorship of the press: Media is already regulated by laws, including defamation. Therefore, legal boundaries for the media exist.

But the new amendments provide unbridled and unchecked powers to the government for deciding what can be published and what cannot. This undermines media freedom further. 

Short-circuits Court judgements: The amendments short-circuit a) The procedures, safeguards and conditions laid out in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India or under Section 69A of the IT Act, b) Madras High Court ruling in T M Krishna v. Union of India and the Bombay High Court ruling in Agij Promotion of Nineteen One Media Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. v. Union of India put a hold on the rules which provided the government with a wider say on content on OTT or digital media platforms.

Issues in regulating intermediaries: Intermediaries are one of the gateways to accessing work by the media. Therefore, any arbitrary restrictions on them may affect public access to news.

Not clearly defined: The amendments are not clear on terms such as “misleading”. For example, the facts of a media report can be beyond reproach. However, if the fact-checking unit finds the narrative ‘problematic’, the intermediary can be ordered to take it down as it’s “misleading”

Conflict of interest: The role played by the fact-checking unit has a significant conflict of interest as it plays the role of judge, jury and executioner.

High chance of misuse: The government applied the laws with weaponising trends to curb opposition and dissent. Hence, the present amendment might lead to the same.

What should be done?

The government should think over the consequences if states use grey areas in the law to regulate media. The government has to follow the recent SC judgment ensuring Freedom of Press and should allow media to work without hindrance, as it is essential for democracy.

Science for all – LIGO-India must contribute to the communities it needs sustenance from

News: The Union Cabinet has recently granted permission to set up a gravitational-wave detection facility (LIGO-India) in Maharashtra.

What are Gravitational waves?

About LIGO-India project

The project will consist of a detector called the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). It is built in the image of the twin LIGO instruments already operational in the U.S.

After the detection of gravitational waves in 2016, a third detector is being built in India as part of the LIGO-India collaboration. This is to improve the detectors’ collective ability to pinpoint sources of gravitational waves in the sky.

What are the benefits of approving the LIGO-India project?

a) India could become a global site of gravitational physics research, b) India can aid training and the handling of precision technologies and sophisticated control systems. Thereby, cementing a reputation for successfully running an experimental Big Science project, c) LIGO-India can demonstrate India’s ability to pursue research and enhances Indian society’s relationship with science.

What are the challenges in implementing the LIGO-India project?

The prior scientific projects of India faced severe hardships. Such as Challakere Science City and the stalled India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). This is because

Science projects need large land tracts, with inevitable implications for land-use change: Science projects have to contest land rights, balance the sustainable use of natural resources, meet carbon sequestration targets, and enforce human rights.

In some areas, science projects are seen as an “agent of colonisation”. For instance, Hawaii’s Thirty Meter Telescope is to be built on land the locals hold sacred. Hence, they have to balance the interplay between the history of science and settler colonialism.

Science projects in developing countries: In the economically developing world, countries like India have the responsibility to define their public value, beyond benefits to national industry and research.

What should be done?

-The government has to ensure adequate access to land and other resources and conduct public outreach programmes for the success of the LIGO-India project. The government has to make clear what the LIGO-India project can provide for the nation.

-The government has to ensure the timely release of funds for construction, followed by issuing the allocated resources without delay.

‘India is well within its right to ensure quality’

News– several WTO members objected to India issuing quality control orders(QCO) for products of mass consumption, such as machinery safety equipment, pressure cookers, toys and air conditioners, to curb a Chinese import surge and boost exports.

Is the quality control order compliant with WTO provisions?

QCOs are first applied in the domestic market and only then are they imposed on imports. So, India has rights to bring QCOs.

western countries impose quality norms on our products. So, India is duty-bound to retaliate by imposing QCOs on their products. According to WTO rules, members should use similar standards for domestic as well

QCOs cannot be challenged at WTO if they are imposed on grounds of health, safety, environment and deceptive trade practice, or national security. The Centre argued that cheap quality products from other countries pose a health risk for children in India.

What is the rationale behind issuing quality control orders by the Indian government?

QCOs are increasingly being used by the government to curb the dumping of cheap products from China amid the widening trade deficit. It is nearly 40% of the total deficit. India has a total deficit of $87.5 billion.

India lags in terms of international standards. It must ramp up its focus on quality to make the best of free trade agreements and take advantage of the China-plus-one strategy adopted by the West.

Some advice to India on the IFA negotiations

News– World Trade Organization is working on investment facilitation agreement (IFA). It is backed by more than 100 countries.

What are the issues with investment facilitation agreement?

There are apprehension that foreign investors could use IFA to bring claims under the existing BITs. Foreign investors may use the most favoured nation provision in BITs to use provisions in IFA perceived to be more beneficial than provisions of underlying BIT.

The foreign investor may use the provision of fair and equitable treatment (FET) present in BITs to challenge non-compliance with IFA.

Older investment treaties rarely explain the meaning of the FET provision. It allows ISDS tribunals to provide its interpretation. Tribunals have held that the FET provision includes investors’ legitimate expectations. The foreign investor may argue that the commitments undertaken by a state under the IFA create ‘legitimate expectations’ of the investor.

Another provision of the IFA that allows the use of ISDS mechanism can be the so-called umbrella clause. It is a BIT clause that allows contractual and other commitments owed to a foreign investor to be brought under the treaty’s protective umbrella.

Why is the ISDS arbitration tribunal unlikely to agree with the investor if a foreign investor brings such claims?

Many BITs exempt an economic integration agreement from the application of MFN. Thus, the possibility of foreign investors successfully importing IFA provisions into the BIT is remote.

It is doubtful that an ISDS tribunal will accept the argument that mere non-compliance with IFA breaches an investor’s legitimate expectations.

Most new investment treaties avoid ‘umbrella clauses’ altogether. This limits the possibility of investors suing states for non-compliance of IFA obligations as a breach of a BIT’s ‘umbrella clause’.

What is the way forward for success for investment facilitation agreement?

The IFA cannot bind an ISDS tribunal. For the ISDS tribunal, the IFA is just another international law instrument that must be interpreted and applied in accordance with the context of the relevant BIT.

Countries can overcome this problem by amending their respective BITs to exclude the IFA from its scope.

The possibility of an ISDS tribunal interpreting provisions broadly can never be ruled out. But this cannot be a basis to oppose international lawmaking.

India should not be opposed to joining the IFA negotiations at the WTO due to fear of ISDS claims.

Prelims-Oriented Articles (Factly)

Govt to provide financial aid to prisoners who can’t afford bail

Source: The post is based on the article “Govt to provide financial aid to prisoners who can’t afford bail” published in The Hindu on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

The Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) has decided to launch a special scheme to provide financial support to poor people who continue to be in jail because they are unable to afford the penalty or the bail amount.

About Undertrial Prisoners in India

According to the latest available data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2020, about 76% of all prison inmates in the country were undertrials, of which about 68% were either illiterate or school dropouts.

Among the undertrials, about 20% were Muslims, while about 73% were Dalits, tribals or OBCs.

Languishing in jails for longer periods as an undertrial is basically a function of the inmate’s economic strength. Many inmates can’t even afford the bail amount, let alone hiring a lawyer.

What are the steps taken to address the issue of undertrials?

Insertion of Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC): It provides that in a case where punishment for the offense cannot be death and a person has undergone detention for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for the offence, he shall be released on bail.

Insertion of a new chapter XXIA ‘Plea Bargaining’ in the CrPC.

Free legal aid is being provided to poor prisoners through the Legal Services Authority at various levels.

What is the Scheme for Support of Poor Prisoners?

Under this scheme, the Government of India will provide financial support to States in order to extend relief to those poor prisoners who are unable to avail bail or get released from prison due to non-payment of fines, on account of financial constraints.

This will enable poor prisoners, the majority of whom belong to socially disadvantaged or marginalized groups with lower education and income level, to get out of prison.

To further strengthen the process, technology-driven solutions will be put in place to ensure that benefits reach the poor prisoners such as 1) reinforcing the E-prisons platform, 2) strengthening of District Legal Services Authority, and 3) sensitization and capacity building of stakeholders to ensure that quality legal aid is made available to needy poor prisoners, etc.

Mission to map rural India’s cultural assets covers over one lakh villages

Source: The post is based on the article “Mission to map rural India’s cultural assets covers over one lakh villages” published in The Hindu on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

The government has identified and documented distinctive features of more than one lakh villages across the country.

This entire exercise has been carried out under the Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar (My Village My Heritage) programme of the National Mission for Cultural Mapping (NMCM).

What is the Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar (My Village My Heritage) programme?

It is being carried out under the National Mission for Cultural Mapping (NMCM).

The survey seeks to document the cultural identity at the village level by involving citizens to share what makes their village, block or district unique.

The Ministry of Culture has partnered with the Common Services Centres (CSC), under the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MEITY) for this programme.

The survey process involves a CSC Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) conducting meetings with locals and then uploading interesting facts about their village, its places of interest, customs and traditions, famous personalities, festivals and beliefs, art and culture, etc on to a special application.

How many villages have been documented under the survey till now?

More than one lakh villages across the country have been documented till now. Villages have been broadly divided into seven-eight categories based on whether they are important ecologically, developmentally if they produce a famous textile or product and if they are connected to some historical or mythological events.

For example, the ecological category includes the Bishnoi village near Jodhpur in Rajasthan, which is a case study for living in harmony with nature and Uttarakhand’s Raini village which is famous for the Chipko movement.

There are also villages that have developmental importance like Modhera in Gujarat, which is the first solar-powered village in India.

Suketi in Himachal Pradesh, Asia’s oldest fossil park and Pandrethan in Kashmir, the village of Shaivite mystic Lal Ded are classified for their historical importance.

E-monitoring roads: unpaid fines driving govt. Rethink

Source: The post is based on the article “E-monitoring roads: unpaid fines driving govt. Rethink” published in The Hindu on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

The Government of India has accepted in the Supreme Court that its implementation of Section 136 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has many problems and required mending.

What is Section 136 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988?

Section 136 was introduced by the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019.

It allows electronic monitoring of roads to prevent such deaths.

It aims to make sure that errant vehicle owners pay the traffic fines issued through e-challans.

What are the challenges in the implementation of Section 136?

Statistics showed that only a minuscule 7.61% of drivers who were issued challans electronically have bothered to pay the fine in the past four years.

Due to this, the impact of the entire exercise of electronic monitoring and e-challans stands substantially reduced by considerably less recovery of e-challan amounts which was in fact intended to deter vehicle owners from committing traffic rule violations.

What are the steps the government is planning to take now?

The government has said that it would take up the exercise of standardization and bring out detailed guidelines to integrate software and hardware with e-vahan/e-challan.

The case before the Supreme Court had also proposed evolving a ‘one nation-one challan system’ with a view to integrate the inter-State systems to effectively e-challan inter-State motor vehicles.

Efforts on to get satellite radio collar for ‘Arikompan’ before translocation

Source: The post is based on the article “Efforts on to get satellite radio collar for ‘Arikompan’ before translocation” published in The Hindu on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has ordered that the wild elephant Arikompan roaming at Santhanpara and Chinnakkanal in the Idukki district in Kerala be captured, radio-collared, and translocated to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve.

What is Parambikulam Tiger Reserve?

Located in: Kerala

It lies in the Sungam range of hills between the Anaimalai Hills and Nelliampathy Hills.

It was declared as a Tiger Reserve in 2009.

It is the home of four different tribes of indigenous peoples including the Kadar, Malasar, Muduvar and Mala Malasar settled in six colonies.

The reserve is also referred to as the “state capital for the massive gaur” by wildlife experts.

The reserve is credited with the first scientifically managed teak plantation in the world.

It also has the world’s largest and oldest teak tree named “Kannimara”, the tree is believed to be 350 years old.

A megafauna bias in India’s carnivore research is hampering the country’s conservations efforts

Source: The post is based on the article “A megafauna bias in India’s carnivore research is hampering the country’s conservations efforts” published in Down To Earth on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

The substantial research and conservation resources invested towards studying, protecting and managing smaller and less charismatic carnivores has generally been poor.

What is Carnivore?

A carnivore is an organism that mostly eats meat, or the flesh of animals. Carnivores are sometimes called predators. Organisms that carnivores hunt are called prey.

About the Research on carnivore population in India

Estimates show that India is home to 23% of the world’s carnivore population, belonging to 60 species. The Indian leopard, golden jackal, dhole and jungle cat are the other top carnivores that have received a substantial research focus.

For instance, scientific research on mega-carnivore tiger has led to the establishment of Project Tiger in 1973 and helped in the establishment of tiger reserves in 50 locations across the country.

Similarly, research on the Indian leopard has resulted in the formulation of national guidelines on human-leopard conflict mitigation.

But the quality of studies on smaller and less charismatic carnivores has generally been poor.

For instance, many smaller and less charismatic carnivores like the fishing cat, which are denizens of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet—freshwaters or wetlands—even basic ecological data like distribution range remain unclarified.

Why is it important to focus on smaller carnivores?

Research on smaller and less charismatic carnivores is important as it helps in understanding the important link between carnivores and their ecological communities and ecosystems, which has implications for human sustenance.

For instance, Small cats also execute important ecological functions like controlling rodent populations, known to be agricultural pests and disease carriers, dispersing seeds, and maintaining forest ecosystems. Civets are known to disperse seeds and help in maintaining forest ecosystems.

What are the steps that should be taken to improve carnivore conservation in India? 

Increased funding for research on lesser-known carnivores which could help generate knowledge, foster public interest and support.

Increased focus on lesser-known species by adopting best practices in socio-ecological studies, widening the ambit of interdisciplinary work, democratizing carnivore science through partnerships and enhancing synergy between carnivore researchers and research groups.

A new measurement could change understanding of the Universe: Study

Source: The post is based on the article “A new measurement could change understanding of the Universe: Study” published in ANI on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

A recent study carried out by the researchers was able to achieve the most accurate calibration of Cepheid stars.

What are Cepheid Stars?

Cepheid Star is a type of variable star which brightens and dims periodically.

Note: Variable stars are essentially stars that experience fluctuations in their brightness.

Named after: Cepheid variables are named for the first known example of the type, the star Delta Cephei, discovered to be variable in 1874.

Characteristics: Cepheids stars are a special type of variable star in that they are hot and massive – five to twenty times as much mass as our Sun – and are known for their tendency to pulsate radially and vary in both diameter and temperature.

– Cepheid star’s period (how often it pulsates) is directly related to its luminosity or brightness. They have luminosities 500-30,000 times greater than that of the Sun.

Significance: Cepheid variables are powerful tools in astronomy. They were an early stepping stone in the establishment of the cosmic distance ladder that now enables astronomers to estimate distances to objects hundreds, thousands, millions and billions of light-years away.

Drugmakers get more time to join ‘Track and Trace’ system for exports

Source: The post is based on the article “Drugmakers get more time to join ‘Track and Trace’ system for exports” published in The Hindu on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

The Central government has extended the date for implementation of the track and trace system for exports of drug formulations till August 1,2023.

What is a Track and Trace system?

Track & Trace system is a software-based solution to track vehicles, loading units, shipments or products throughout the entire supply chain from supplier to consumer.

This system for the export of pharmaceuticals consignments is being implemented as a measure to address counterfeit and product recall challenges. 

Under this system, the manufacturer or the exporter of drug formulations would have to print the barcode as per global standards at different packaging levels — primary, secondary and tertiary — to facilitate tracking and tracing of their products.

Barcoding will help in tracking and tracing the origin of drugs, which minimizes the chances of genuine medicines being considered spurious, sub-standard or counterfeit.

Changes in domestic gas pricing formula: Math, rationale, and how consumers are affected

Source: The post is based on the article “Changes in domestic gas pricing formula: Math, rationale, and how consumers are affected” published in Indian Express on 8th April 2023

What is the News?

The Union Cabinet has approved a revision in the formula for the pricing of natural gas.

What is the revised natural gas pricing formula?

Natural gas produced from legacy or old fields, known as APM gas, will now be indexed to the price of imported crude oil instead of benchmarking it to gas prices in four surplus nations such as the US, Canada and Russia.

APM gas will be priced at 10% of the price of a basket of crude oil that India imports (Indian basket of crude oil). 

The rate arrived at however will be capped at $6.5 per million British thermal unit. There will also be a floor or base price of $4 per mmBtu.

What are legacy or nomination fields?

Nomination fields are acreages that the government awarded to ONGC and OIL before 1999, after which auctions became the basis of awarding oil and gas blocks. 

The price of APM gas, which accounts for about two-thirds of India’s natural gas production, has been determined as per the ‘modified’ Rangarajan formula since November 1, 2014.

What is the impact of this decision?

Firstly, the new regime will have the APM gas price linked to crude oil prices. This has now become the prevalent practice in most natural gas contracts internationally.

Secondly, with the changes in the pricing formula, data on the Indian crude basket price from the previous month would form the basis for APM gas price determination.

Thirdly, over the past few years, ONGC and OIL had been petitioning the government for a floor price as they were forced to sell gas at a loss for a prolonged period when prices sustained below their cost of production.

– On the other hand, gas-consuming industries have been urging the government to ensure the affordability of domestic natural gas. Hence, by bringing ceiling and floor prices, it attempts to bring a balance.

Fourthly, these reforms will lead to a significant decrease in prices of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) for households and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for transport. The reduced prices shall also lower the fertilizer subsidy burden and help the domestic power sector.

What’s Hikikomori? Why 15 lakh Japanese are living in isolation?

Source: The post is based on the article “What’s Hikikomori? Why 15 lakh Japanese are living in isolation?” published in The Economic Times on 8th April 2023.

What is the News?

A phenomenon of social withdrawal known as Hikikomori is spreading rapidly in Japan.

What is Hikikomori?

It is a term used to describe people who have withdrawn from society, often for a period of six months or longer.

It is associated with feelings of anxiety, depression, and social phobia. It is thought to be a response to the pressures of modern society, including high academic expectations, intense competition, and social isolation.

What are the effects of Hikkomori?

a) It can lead to further mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, and can make it difficult for individuals to reintegrate into society, b) Hikikomori can have long-term effects on individuals’ social and economic prospects, making it harder for them to find work or form relationships, c) Hikikomori can lead to reduced productivity and can make it harder for individuals to contribute to the wider economy, and d) It can exacerbate demographic challenges, including an aging population and a declining birth rate.