Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

GS Paper 3

• Manipur violence: SOS from Imphal
• Why reduction in manpower is bad for the Indian Army
• Unstable policy regimes discourage foreign portfolio investors
• We need innovative ways to fill the climate funding gap
• Faster, stronger – on supercomputers in India

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

9 Years, 1 Big Footprint – on India’s foreign policy

News: The article explains India’s foreign policy in the nine years of the current government.

How has India’s foreign policy been in the last nine years?

Voice of the Global South: India has taken various initiatives like Neighbourhood First, SAGAR, Quad, I2U2 and International Solar Alliance.

With these initiatives, India has been perceived as a voice of the Global South. These initiatives have also made India recognisable as a responsible development partner globally.

De-risking Economy:  The pandemic highlighted the need for de-risking the economy from the dependence of others. In this reference, India opted to promote domestic growth through Make in India, PLI schemes and Gati Shakti.

India with its foreign policy has also focused on exploring global opportunities, building deep strengths, absorbing technology and best practices, and expanding employment.

Digitization: The government has expanded its digital arena by collaborating with countries and exchanging knowledge and technical skills.

India’s diaspora: India conducted various mobility agreements like Vande Bharat Mission, Operations Ganga and Kaveri to safeguard its professionals and students abroad.

First Responder: India has emerged as a First Responder in disaster situations of Türkiye, which shows its capabilities and diplomatic skills.

Expanding Diplomatic ties: While India is continuously expanding its diplomatic relations with strategically important countries, it is also taking efforts to expand its relation with other countries like the Pacific Islands, Caribbean, Nordic nations.

Relations with Neighbours: India has taken various projects with its neighboring countries like the development of road, rail and waterway connectivity, power grids, fuel pipelines and border crossing facilities.

This development in the infrastructure has also increased trade with the neighbouring nations. The help India provided Sri Lanka amid its economic crisis has also received a lot of attention globally.

In addressing the challenges from the neighbours, India has deployed robust military in the border areas to ensure that the status quo is not unilaterally altered by China.

Along with this, various policies and actions have been taken to delegitimize and respond to cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.

Promoting India’s Cultural Heritage Globally: India has taken efforts to promote its cultural heritage globally like the celebration of yoga and propagation of ayurveda.

Other Initiatives: India has also taken various initiatives in the field of climate action, counter-terrorism, connectivity, maritime security, financial inclusion and food security among others.

India has also set examples for other countries in some of these fields and it has shared its expertise with other countries. Due to which, it has gained global appreciation.

The lack of teachers in higher education

News: Faculty shortages in India have become a permanent issue and obstacles remain in finding a solution to faculty shortages.

What are the obstacles in finding a solution to faculty shortages?

a)) lack of reliable data on current faculty shortages in colleges and universities and b) the partial understanding of faculty shortages as merely a quantitative issue.

Why is there no reliable data on faculty shortages?

In 2009, the task force set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development said that there is no standing mechanism to collect the information on vacant faculty positions.

The report called for a standing mechanism to monitor the size and quality of faculty and suggested that data on faculty members should be made available on the website of every academic institution. 

However, even after more than a decade, most academic institutions have incomplete websites containing only partial information about their faculties.

Moreover, the government collects data on the number of faculty members, for the annual All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE).

However, AISHE is a voluntary process for various institutions and the data provided by the institutions is also not verified by any independent agency.

Most colleges also have adjunct faculty members and even ghost members. They are often counted as part of the regular faculty.

Hence, all these issues make it impossible to get a reliable estimate of faculty shortages.

Are shortages a quantitative issue?

Shortages of faculty is not only a quantitative issue. There are other factors also involved in it like:

First, there may be a demand supply gap of faculties in some places because the number of faculty members varies across disciplines, institutions and locations. Therefore, the gap between the demand and supply needs to be addressed.

Second, faculty shortages for most of the public institutions occur due to the lack of funds. Almost all state universities, despite the need for faculties, are unable to hire them because they do not have sufficient funds.

Third, many private colleges show unwillingness to hire faculties because their motive is to earn profit. They hire less faculties and make them do more work. They also hire less qualified people to keep costs down.

Fourth, the reservation of caste in the public institution also creates problems in hiring faculties from the specific caste. Because the reservations reduce the pool of qualified people. It also leads to vacant positions due to the unavailability of qualified applicants.

Fifth, positions also remain vacant due to the unwillingness among faculty members to work at select institutions due to their unfavourable location and/or the working and living conditions.

Sixth, there may also be qualitative issues for the vacant positions. Despite a huge number of candidates for faculty positions, only a small proportion of them may be competent for the post.

Hence, there is a need for a robust policy to address the issue of faculty shortages.

From Master of the Roster to Master of all Judges?

News- Recently, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court, in Ritu Chhabria v. Union of India gave its decision on bail related matters.

What was the decision of the Division Bench of the Supreme Court, in Ritu Chhabria v. Union of India case?

It affirmed an undertrial’s right to be released on default bail in the case of incomplete investigation and proceeding beyond the statutory time limit.

It criticised the practice of investigative agencies charge-sheeting an accused despite the unfinished investigation. It held that the right to be released on bail will not end despite the filing of a preliminary charge-sheet.

It concluded that an accused’s right to seek default bail would be terminated only upon completion of the investigation within the statutory time limit.

What was the response of the court of CJI to recall application by the Union against Ritu Chhabria judgement?

The Court of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) entertained a recall application moved by the Union of India against this judgement.

It passed an interim order directing courts to decide bail applications without relying on the decision laid down in Ritu Chhabria for a short period of time.

The Court of the CJI indirectly stayed the decision despite not having any connection with the verdict.

What are the issues related to the interim order passed by court of CJI in the recall application filed by the Union government?

Ordinarily, the only recourse available to the Union of India was the filing of a review petition. It is usually decided by the same Bench. There was no scope of the review petition being entertained by the Court of the CJI.

A recall application cannot be filed against a judgement before a different Bench. It is equivalent to bench fishing or forum shopping.

The Court of the CJI has effectively instituted a mechanism by entertaining an intra-court appeal. The mechanism has not any legislative or constitutional backing.

The order has the effect of enlarging the powers of the CJI on the judicial side. It can create an unprecedented intra-court appellate mechanism within the Supreme Court.

What is the position of the CJI in relation to other judges of SC?

Within the constitutional scheme of things, all judges of the Supreme Court are equal in terms of their judicial powers. However, the CJI enjoys special administrative powers such as constituting Benches. He assigned matters and references for reconsideration of a larger Bench.

The CJI is known as the Master of the Rooster. He is regarded as ‘first amongst equals’ in relation to companion judges.

In any given Bench including the CJI, the vote or power given to the CJI is the same as that of his companion judges.

History is replete with examples of the CJI authoring a minority opinion of the Court.

Most Commonwealth countries such as the U.K., Australia and Canada have this system in place.

The U.S. has a system where all the judges collectively exercise power and render decisions.

What are the issues related to the master of the roster?

The legitimacy of the power of Master of the Roster has been hotly debated. There are instances of abuse that are a cause for concern.

Just five years ago, four senior judges of the Supreme Court alleged serious irregularities in the administration and assigning of cases for hearing to Benches of the Court.

The powers vested in the CJI by his virtue of being the Master of the Roster are unending. It is impractical to lay any limits on these powers, meant for the smooth administrative functioning of the Court.

It is imperative that the CJI himself refrains from expanding his powers as Master of the Roster. The practice of constituting Benches and allocating cases should be completely computerised and left out of the hands of the CJI.

The CJI’s powers as the Master of the Roster are meant only for administrative decision-making.

The Rural Wage Rule GOI Must Relinquish

News: The rural development ministry issued an order making Aadhaar-based payments compulsory for all NREGA wages from feb 2023. This is creating huge problems.

Before this order there were 2 wage payment options: “account-based” and “Aadhaar-based”.

The Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS) is supposed to find the latest Aadhaar-linked accounts.

What are the issues associated with ABPS?

ABPS has no demonstrated advantage over account-based payments. It often leads to problems like wages being redirected to Airtel wallets unknowingly, and rejection problems are harder to solve with ABPS.

Only 43% of all NREGA workers were eligible for ABPS wage payments when the order was issued. It led to a situation where a majority of workers were “unpayable”.

In many cases,             job cards of ABPS-ineligible workers are being deleted to meet the target of 100% ABPS eligibility.

Frontline NREGA functionaries are struggling to implement the new order. They are avoiding assigning ABPS-ineligible workers work at NREGA worksites.

An impression that ABPS payments are relatively corruption-proof exists, but there is no evidence of this. Aadhaar-linked accounts are especially vulnerable to fraud. In fact, it is one of the top fraud types listed by the National Payment Corporation of India in its updated ‘Fraud Liability Guidelines’ for Aadhaar-enabled payments.

What should be course of action?

Making Aadhaar-based payments compulsory is counterproductive. What is needed is a retraction of the January 30 order and a review of the Aadhaar-based payment option to ensure a reliable and timely payment system for NREGA workers.

GS Paper 3

Manipur violence: SOS from Imphal

News: The Union Home Minister has pitched for dialogue and promised to deal a fair hand to all stakeholders in resolving the Manipur violenceManipur violence. Ahead of Union Home Minister’s visit to Manipur violence has once again erupted. 

What are the reasons behind the unrest in Manipur?

What is the present state of Manipur violence?

The breakdown of trust between the Meiteis and Kukis only seems to have widened over the days. There have been reports of mobs attacking the houses of legislators, police stations and looting armouries.

The case in courts over the granting of tribal status to the Meiteis is yet to be settled through the Supreme Court. All evidence points to a crisis of governance, with mobs controlling the street and the administration missing from the scene.

Even legislative units seem divided along communal lines, with community/tribe affiliations proceeding over party loyalties. Overall, the crisis made peace in the entire region at stake.

What will be the impact of Manipur violence on regional security?

What is the role of Myanmar in the Manipur unrest?

What the Center and States should do to address Manipur violence?

a) The first task before the government is to step in, to restore law and order and gain public trust. For that the central forces should be deployed adequately, b) A strong political leadership is necessary to get the warring parties, who have a long history of distrust, to sit across the table and start talking, c) The political leadership needs to address the legal conundrum. This should address questions about development, employment and educational opportunities, land ownership and usage and so on.

To counter multiple factors in play in Manipur, the government needs a multi-layered approach which involves judicial, political, and social levels.

Why reduction in manpower is bad for the Indian Army

News– Two big ideas are being pushed by politicians and bureaucrats masked as initiatives of the Armed Forces — right-sizing and Atmanirbharta.

Why the ideas of right-sizing and Atmanirbharta pushed by the Armed Forces are consequences of the OROP?

OROP was not a well thought-out decision. It was adopted for short-term electoral gains.

Its long-term cost is staggering. OROP’s annual bill exceeds funds allotted for modernisation. Last year, the five-year equaliser in OROP led to an increase of Rs 25,000 crore.

The revenue account is much larger as compared to capital account. So, the government had to reduce manpower. Ironically, Covid19 became a government ally in the mission.

What are some facts related to deficiency of manpower in armed forces?

For a full two-and-a-half years till June 2022, no recruitment was done. The government was working on the much-maligned Agniveer scheme. The aim was to reduce manpower and pension bills.

No recruitment in the last three years has created the deficiency of 1,80,000 personnel. The savings on salary bills as well as pensions are significant.

Agniveer recruitment commenced in June 2022 with the intake of 40,000 soldiers. 70,000 soldiers continued to retire.

2023 is the year of transformation in the Army. An additional 1,00,000 personnel will be reduced on top of the 1,80,000 existing shortfall. Last month, the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff ordered a 10% cut in manpower across the force.

One reason for the dilution of manpower in the Army is the considerably improved insurgency situation in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly south of Banihal.  At least two Rashtriya Rifles sectors were redeployed from Jammu to Ladakh.

In the Northeast, two mountain divisions fighting insurgency have been relieved and the counter-insurgency mission is now with the Assam Rifles. The Manipur ethnic conflict is a warning.

What are the impacts of low recruitment in recent years?

The adverse impact of zero recruitment for nearly three years on combat units was very serious. Many of the soldiers were deployed against the Chinese PLA in Ladakh. But no one raised a voice.

Manpower deficiency has hurt Gorkha regiments the most. No recruitment has taken place this year. The government in Nepal is unable to decide on the Agniveer scheme. It prefers the old system of 15 years recruitment plus pension.

A suspension or termination of Gorkha recruitment from Nepal will have profound strategic consequences.

Unstable policy regimes discourage foreign portfolio investors

News– The article explains the regularly issues related to financial markets and

What are characteristics of today’s global financial ecosystem?

It is characterised by cross-border capital flows, and a global investor base.

Countries offer multiple incentives to attract the best companies to list their shares, and foreign investors to invest and create vibrant capital markets.

Issuers prefer jurisdictions having simpler compliance requirements. Foreign investors prefer countries allowing free flow of capital.

Take the recent example of Softbank-owned ARM Ltd. The London-based company chose a primary New York listing despite intense efforts by the UK prime minister. As per the Financial Times, this decision was due to the complex regulatory landscape in the UK.

What are issues related to regulation of financial markets?[Text Wrapping Break]Conflicts or disagreements between regulatory bodies and legislative intent or government policy can occur in any regulatory environment.

Governments set policies and legislative frameworks. Regulatory bodies often operate independently to enforce and interpret the laws.

Differences in interpretation, evolving market conditions or emerging challenges can lead to conflicts between regulations and the original intent or policy direction.

What are the suggestions of the report submitted by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee to probe certain allegations against the Adani Group?

It suggests changes in the legal framework. It provides insight into the dichotomy between the legislative intent and the actions of the SEBI.

The Committee has stated that the SEBI regulations have contradicted the stated position. The legislative intent was altogether different.

Take the case of the norms governing the minimum public shareholding. Once a disclosure of ultimate beneficial ownership is made, there is sufficient compliance. Despite this, the SEBI has taken a different stance.

The Committee notes that 13 foreign portfolio investors, investing in the Adani Group entities made beneficial ownership declarations by identifying natural persons controlling their decisions. It is in line with the requirements under the PMLA, 2002.

This declaration is as per the compliance stipulated under the SEBI’s FPI regulations. Information on the 42 investors in these FPIs, who have invested their monies in these funds under the control of the beneficial owner identified and declared under the PMLA rules, is also available.

The requirement to disclose the last natural person above every person owning any economic interest in the FPI was discontinued in 2018.

Similarly, the “opaque structure” provisions in the regulations were deleted in 2019 as declarations made under the PMLA constitute sufficient compliance.

As per the Committee, if every FPI was required to provide information about beneficial owners in respect of owners holding more than 10%, there was no need to know the ultimate beneficial owner of every owner of the FPI.

Yet in 2020, the SEBI moved the investigation and enforcement in the opposite direction. It stated that the ultimate owner of every piece of economic interest in an FPI must be capable of being ascertained.

The Committee has suggested the need for a coherent enforcement policy. There have also been other instances where SEBI’s regulations or enforcement have clashed with legislative intent.

What impacts the FPI decision related to investment?

FPIs assess risks such as changes in taxation policies, capital controls, repatriation restrictions or shifts in regulatory frameworks to make their investment decisions. They rely on stable and transparent regulatory frameworks for investment decisions.

In case of uncertainty, they may become cautious and hesitant to commit their funds. FPIs prefer India over countries with unstable governments or opaque capital market regimes for this exact reason.

Businesses and investors prefer stable policy regimes. Frequent changes in law and policy raises the perceived risk. It deterres FPIs with lower risk tolerance to either postpone or cancel investment plans.

What is the way forward for regulation of FPIS?

Even if the legislative intent or spirit of the law is subjective, we cannot have an uncertain regime.

There is a need to recognise the contribution of FPIs to the Indian markets. This can be addressed by reducing the dichotomy between the legislative intent and SEBI regulations to a bare minimum.

We need innovative ways to fill the climate funding gap

Context: Rising carbon emissions and biodiversity losses is posing a grave threat to mankind, especially vulnerable sections. Handling it requires an innovative financing solution.

Financing of climate solutions is must for achieving SDG targets. SDG 13 (which covers climate action) calls upon states to take urgent action to combat climate change. SDG 15.5 calls for taking urgent action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats.

What are the initiatives launched for financing solutions for climate change?

At the 27th Conference of Parties (CoP17), a Loss and Damage (L&D) Fund was proposed to assist developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

It was especially established to assist developing countries that have been harmed and are ‘particularly vulnerable’ to the adverse effects of climate change.

15th Conference of Parties to Convention on Biodiversity resulted in a global commitment to raise international financial flows from developed to developing countries to at least $30 billion per year by 2030.

Some countries also committed to mobilise at least $200 billion every year from public and private sources for biodiversity related funding by 2030.

The G20 Bali Leaders’ declaration called for unlocking innovative sources of financing to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A number of funds have been created over the last 30 years: like the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and Special Climate Change Fund. However, there is a significant gap between requirements and commitments.

Many proposals have been moved to create Global Carbon Tax, Digital Services Tax, Property Tax, Airplane Tax, cesses on carbon emissions, biodiversity, climate resilience and climate adaptation, Financial Transactions Tax etc.

However, as usual, there is very little hope, due to past failures of rich countries in meeting commitments.

Role of private investment in climate financing

Private capital financing can play a significant role in plugging the gaps for global sustainable financing, particularly in emerging markets and developing economies.

Therefore, creation of an ecosystem that incentivises the creation of financial assets for emission reduction and biodiversity conservation, is necessary.

Private capital financing has increased over the last decade but needs to be scaled up significantly to meet agreed targets.

Faster, stronger – on supercomputers in India

Context:  India is set to receive a new high-performance computing (HPC) system, often referred to as a ‘supercomputer’, from the French corporation, Atos. This system is expected to be the fastest in India.

The HPC will be part of deal with France, signed in December 2018 to procure high-performance computers worth ₹4,500 crore by 2025.

The HPC systems will be hosted by two institutions: the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Noida. These institutions currently house two of India’s most powerful machines, Mihir and Pratyush.

How HPCs are being used and what are their potential uses?

While the possession of powerful supercomputers provides Indian scientists the tools to tackle complex problems, it’s unclear whether these machines have led to significant breakthroughs in fundamental science or engineered commercial products.

The use of such machines has improved short-term weather forecasts and cyclone predictions in India. But there should be greater evaluation of their value in other fields, beyond their speed and power.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Performance review: How Parliament has functioned till now

Source: The post is based on the article “Performance review: How Parliament has functioned till now” published in The Hindu on 30th May 2023

What is the News?

Prime Minister has recently inaugurated India’s new Parliament building. The new building will come into use from the next Parliament session. At this juncture, it is time to review the performance of the MPs in the old building.

What is the performance of Lok Sabhas in general?

Terms of various Lok Sabha’s: The terms of the fourth, sixth, ninth, eleventh and twelfth Lok Sabha were shorter than five years and so the number of sittings were fewer. The term of the fifth Lok Sabha was extended for six years.

Bills to Parliamentary Standing Committees: These were created in 1993 to assist Parliament in its legislative and financial business. Since 2004, of the total Bills introduced in Parliament, only 45% have been referred to Committees. The decline has been more in recent years with the 16th Lok Sabha and 17th (ongoing) Lok Sabha seeing fewer Bills being sent to Committees.

What is the performance review of the 17th Lok Sabha?

Lack of application of accountability provisions: The Rules of Procedure of both Houses provide for various devices which can be used to draw attention to matters of public importance, and hold the government accountable. These include half-an-hour discussions, short-duration discussions, and adjournment motions.

In the 17th Lok Sabha, only 11 short-duration discussions and one half-an-hour discussion have been held so far. None were held in the latest session.

Bills introduced and passed: In this Lok Sabha, so far, 150 Bills have been introduced and 131 have been passed (excluding Finance and Appropriation Bills). Fewer than 10 Bills have been introduced or passed in each of the last four consecutive sessions.

Sitting days of the 17th Lok Sabha may end up being the shortest: This could make it the shortest full-term Lok Sabha since 1952.

Budget sessions of 17th Lok Sabha: The latest Budget session was the sixth-shortest Budget session since 1952. The Lok Sabha spent 18 hours on financial business, of which 16 hours were spent discussing the Budget. In the previous Budget sessions of the 17th Lok Sabha, financial business was discussed for 55 hours on average.

Not elected a Deputy Speaker so far: Article 93 of the Constitution states that the Lok Sabha will choose two Members of the House to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker, as soon as possible.

But despite the Supreme Court’s notice, the 17th Lok Sabha has not elected a Deputy Speaker even as it enters the final year of its five-year term.

What has India done to curb unnecessary hysterectomies?

Source: The post is based on the article “What has India done to curb unnecessary hysterectomies?” published in The Hindu on 30th May 2023

What is the News?

The Union Health Ministry recently urged State governments to audit hysterectomy trends in public and private hospitals.

What is Hysterectomy?

A hysterectomy is a surgery to remove the uterus. After a hysterectomy, one will not menstruate (have periods) or be able to get pregnant.

According to NFHS-5 data, highest percentage of hysterectomies were to treat excessive menstrual bleeding or pain (51.8%); 24.94% for fibroids; 24.94% for cysts and 11.08% for uterine disorder or rupture. A majority of these cases were reported among socially and economically disadvantaged women. But, studies have shown that “many of these causes were considered to be treatable and surgery could be avoided.”

In some cases, women may continue to suffer post-surgery and might need additional surgery. In other cases, patients may need medical support such as hormone replacement therapies. But these interventions are limited to private hospitals and remain unaffordable for low-income groups.

About the Supreme Court’s directions and the Center’s request

What are the government measures against Hysterectomy?

The Union Health Ministry in 2022 issued guidelines to prevent unnecessary hysterectomies. The guidelines a) listed possible indications of when a hysterectomy may be required and alternative clinical treatments for gynaecological issues, b) recommended setting up district, State-level and national hysterectomy monitoring committees to monitor and collect data on age, mortality, and occupations, among other details, c) tasked monitoring committees with creating awareness, among both practitioners and patients, about bodily anatomy.

The government’s flagship health insurance programme, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana provides health cover of ₹5 lakh for 1,949 procedures, including hysterectomies.

What are the reasons for increasing hysterectomy surgeries?

The false assumption regarding health: A 2017 study from Gujarat found most women assumed that the uterus served no role outside of pregnancy and that removing the uterus would solve their health issues.

Misuse: The procedure can easily be misused by either private clinics that earn profits (from insurance money) or by contractors in unorganised sectors such as the sugar-cane-cutting industry, where ‘wombless women’ are the norm to eliminate the need for menstrual care and hygiene among workers.

Looked as a way to become productive: A 2019 investigation found that women from rural areas look at hysterectomies as a way of increasing days of productive work and earning more wages.

UN peacekeeping mission: India to train women from ASEAN

Source: The post is based on the article “UN peacekeeping mission: India to train women from ASEAN” published in The Hindu on 30th May 2023

What is the News?

Indian Defence Minister last year proposed an initiative for ‘women in United Nations Peacekeeping (UNPK) operations’ as part of expanding India-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) defence cooperation. Under it, India is set to conduct two initiatives for training women personnel from South East Asia.

The announcement was made on the day when in 1948, the first UN peacekeeping mission, “U.N. Truce Supervision Organisation”, began operations in Palestine.

About United Nations Peacekeeping forces

About the India-ASEAN initiative for women in UNPK operations

One of the initiatives under the initiative ‘include the conduct of tailor-made courses for women peacekeepers of ASEAN member-states at the Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in India. In all 20 member states of UN peacekeepers, two from each country would be trained.

The other is a ‘tabletop exercise’ for women officers from ASEAN, incorporating facets of UNPK challenges to be conducted in December.

About India’s participation in UNPK

India has contributed 2,75,000 troops to peacekeeping missions so far and 159 Indian Army soldiers have lost their lives across the globe.

India, one of the largest troop-contributing nations to the UNPK, currently has around 5,900 troops deployed in 12 U.N. missions.

Muslims lag behind all communities in higher education; U.P. shows worst decline, says study

Source: The post is based on the article “Muslims lag behind all communities in higher education; U.P. shows worst decline, says study” published in The Hindu on 30th May 2023

What is the News?

According to the latest All India Survey on Education 2020-21 report, the Muslim community is lagging behind all communities, including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in higher education.

What is the All India Survey on Higher Education(AISHE)?

What are the key findings of AISHE 2020-21 survey?

What are the findings of AISHE 2020-21 on higher education of the Muslim community?

Dismal enrolment ratio: The enrolment of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in higher education was improved by 4.2%, 11.9% and 4%, respectively, compared with 2019-20. But, the Muslim community’s enrolment declined by 8%.

This might be partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic poverty, which forces talented students to pursue earning opportunities after schooling.

Highest declining states: The most drastic decline was reported from Uttar Pradesh (36%), followed by Jammu and Kashmir (26%), Maharashtra (8.5%) and Tamil Nadu (8.1%).

Best performer: Kerala is the only State breaks the above trend. Here, 43% Muslims go for higher education.

Communities coverage of higher education: The OBCs accounts for 36% of the total enrolment in higher education in the country. The SCs bring up another 14%. The two communities cover nearly 50% of the seats in universities and colleges.

But the Muslim community accounts for only 4.6% higher education enrolment though the community’s share in the country’s population stands at over 14%.

For example, in Delhi, every fifth Muslim student failed to enrol for higher education after completing the Senior School Certificate Examination and in Uttar Pradesh, where Muslims are about 20% of the population, the community’s enrolment for higher education stands at a mere 4.5%.

Gradual upliftment of women: Muslims and other minorities have more female students than male students, pointing to a gradual uplift of the women of the minority communities.

Note: This also signifies the pressure to earn at the earliest among the male members of the community.

Lack of Muslim teachers: At an all-India level, teachers belonging to the General Category account for 56% of all teachers. OBC, SC and ST teachers make up another 32%, 9% and 2.5% of the teachers, respectively. Muslims constitute only 5.6% of the teachers.

ISRO’s GSLV rocket takes navigation satellite into transfer orbit successfully

Source: The post is based on the article “ISRO’s GSLV rocket takes navigation satellite into transfer orbit successfully” published in The Hindu on 30th May 2023

What is the News?

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully placed the NVS-01 navigation satellite, weighing about 2,232 kg, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F12. Subsequent orbit-raising manoeuvres will take NVS-01 into the intended Geosynchronous orbit.

Note: The GSLV-F12 is the 15th flight of India’s GSLV and the 9th flight with an indigenous cyro stage. This is the 6th operational flight of GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic stage.

About NVS-01

The NVS-01 carried navigation payloads L1, L5 and S bands. For the first time, an indigenous atomic clock was flown in NVS-01.

NVS-01 is the first in the series of five satellites. ISRO will have to complete the navigation satellite constellation by launching four more NVS series satellites.

About the future plans of ISRO

a) ISRO is planning to launch weather satellite INSAT-3DS on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), b) ISRO is working on designing a new rocket that can carry much higher luggage and also upgrading the LVM3 rocket to lift up to 5.5 ton from the current 4 ton capacity, and c) In the upcoming months, the ISRO will also test the crew escape systems for the Gaganyaan project rocket.

First death from Powassan virus infection in US: All about the tick-borne disease

Source: The post is based on the article “First death from Powassan virus infection in US: All about the tick-borne disease” published in the PIB on 29th May 2023

What is the News?

A person in the US has died from the rare Powassan virus, marking the first fatal case in the US.

What is Powassan virus disease?

Powassan virus disease (POWV) is a rare but serious illness caused by the Powassan virus. It is often called a ticking time bomb. It is named after Powassan, Ontario where it was first discovered in 1958.

Spread: It is spread to humans by the bite of an infected deer tick, groundhog tick or squirrel tick.

Not all ticks carry these viruses and not all people bitten by a tick will get sick. A tick needs to be attached to a person for a certain length of time before it can cause disease.

Note: Ticks are external parasites that live by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians.

Symptoms: most people who contract the virus do not show any symptoms but people might face fever, headache, vomiting and weakness from one week to a month after being bitten. The other symptoms include Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), Meningitis (inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord).

In serious cases, symptoms might include confusion, loss of coordination, and difficulty speaking and result in long-term health problems when the illness is severe.

Treatment: There is no specific vaccine or medication. People will be advised to take some preventive measures when they are outdoors.

Rest, fluids, and over-the-counter pain medications may relieve some symptoms.

Countries impacted so far: In most cases, the disease occurs in the northeastern and Great Lakes regions of the United States between late spring and mid-autumn, but other parts of the country have also reported cases of POWV lately.

Mathematical structure of Quantum Theory reconstructed from Information Principle

Source: The post is based on the article “Mathematical structure of Quantum Theory reconstructed from Information Principle” published in the PIB on 29th May 2023

What is the News?

Scientists have found the theoretical rationale of the mathematical structure of composite quantum systems consisting of more than one subsystem.

About Quantum Mechanics theory

Quantum Mechanics theory describes physical phenomena in the microscopic world. It was developed in the early 20th century to explain experimental observations like the Black-body radiation curve, Photoelectric effect when the German physicist Max Planck demonstrated through physical experiments that energy, in certain situations, can exhibit characteristics of physical matter.

Later scientists like Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Louis de Broglie, Erwin Schrodinger, and Paul M. Dirac advanced Plank’s theory to quantum mechanics–the most accurate mathematical theory of the microscopic world.

Further, unlike other physical theories that are built upon physically motivated postulates, Quantum Mechanics starts with abstract mathematical axioms. So, for a better physical understanding, scientists are still pursuing their endeavor to re-derive the mathematical structure of quantum theory, starting with physically motivated postulates.

How did Indian scientists derive the mathematical structure of quantum theory?

Scientists from an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology have used a novel information principle, called the principle of Information Causality. By using this, they analysed what kind of descriptions are naturally disallowed for composite quantum systems.

They found that a) Information Causality plays a crucial role in selecting the quantum composition rule among different mathematical possibilities, and b) Information Causality can discard a composition rule that is close to human’s classical worldview in the sense that the resulting theory will allow only classical-like correlations. So, the researchers conclude that Information Causality can help in deriving the mathematical structure of quantum mechanics.