9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – November 4th, 2022

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• There is no debate: There has been a persistent decline in poverty in India
• Poppy love in Afghanistan
• Higher education needs relief from its resource crunch

GS Paper 3

• Indian military’s capabilities: Handling a high-tech Chinese military
• Global Energy Transition: Blurred energy nirvana: The world is fast turning green
• Non-Proliferation Treaty to ban fossil fuels: Vanuatu’s big plea does little to arrest climate change
• Delhi’s air quality crisis: Why we are all culpable

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Ministry of Education released a detailed Report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22
• Cor-AuNPs: A gold-mushroom combo to ease drug delivery
• Adaptation target not keeping pace with growing risks: UNEP Report
• Panamaram heronry set to get a new lease of life
• Captive mines may get to sell 50% output in open market
• Ministry of Education releases report on Performance Grading Index for States/UTs for the year 2020-21
• NCST supports proposal to include Pahari community in ST list of Jammu and Kashmir
• An indigenous technology from IIT Madras can now produce new-generation super-abrasive tools
• Tokhü Emong Bird Count(TEBC): Beyond Amur falcons: Nagaland to undertake first bird count
• CRISPR gene-editing possible in temperature sensitive organisms, plants & crop varieties

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

There is no debate: There has been a persistent decline in poverty in India

News: The recent release of the NFHS data for 2019-21 allows for a detailed analysis of the progress in the reduction of absolute poverty and related determinants like nutrition. The data reveals that poverty fell faster after 2011.

About India’s poverty estimation through NFHS

Poverty did decline between 2011-12 and 2017-18 or 2019-20. This is because policymakers and academics have given a higher priority to the poverty-reducing properties of inclusive growth rather than growth per se.

The NFHS surveys are part of a multinational attempt to provide estimates of multidimensional poverty. Its computation rests on estimates of poverty according to 10 different indicators. The deprivation index for each indicator is the per cent poor (deprived) according to that indicator.

How can one know poverty fell faster after 2011?

Let’s consider 2005 to 2011 as P-1 and 2011 to 2021 as P-2.

a) Multidimensional poverty declined at a compounded annual average rate of 4.8% per year in P-1 and more than double that pace at 10.3% a year during P-2.

b) Every single household survey or analysis has shown that consumption inequality declined during P-2. This is consistent with the above finding of highly inclusive growth during P-2.

Note: Except for the 2017-18 dubious NSS survey, India makes public all of its data. In contrast, unit-level poverty data on China is not even made available to the World Bank, a body authorised to publish country-level estimates of poverty.

What made the growth so inclusive and ensured poverty fell faster?

A major factor behind the inclusive nature of growth during P-2 is the focus of government policies on each of the individual indicators indicative of a dignified standard of living. Such as, a) Slow-moving variables such as housing, access to cooking fuel, sanitation, etc, have witnessed a remarkable increase, b) Close to one-third of Indians were deprived of electricity till as recently as 2014. It was only after Saubhagya Yojana India managed to electrify every village, and eventually households, c) Jan Dhan Yojana which made financial inclusion a reality in India, especially for women, d) Modern cooking fuel is provided through the Ujjwala Yojana, e) Jal Jeevan Mission has increased the rural piped water coverage from 17% in 2019 to above 54% at present.

All these have ensured the benefits of growth are equitably distributed across a wider class of citizens.

Poppy love in Afghanistan

News: Afghanistan has witnessed an increase in the poppy cultivation despite of the ban imposed on its cultivation by Taliban.

What are the highlights of the report say?

According to the report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), land coverage for poppy cultivation increased by 32% in the year 2021 than 2020.

The report highlighted that 6,200 tonnes of poppy was harvested in the year 2021 which can be converted into 350-380 tonnes of export-quality heroin. Thus, 80% of the world opiates come from Afghanistan.

This opium sales have increased the farmer’s income from $425 million in 2021 to $1.4 billion in 2022.

A report in 2020 said the Taliban’s profits from the illegal drug trade, illegal mining, and exports had earned it $1.6 billion, of which $416 million was from the drug trade alone.

When did poppy cultivation start in Afghanistan?

Taliban realized the importance of poppy cultivation when they first came in power in 1996. They relied on opium sales for money at the time when they were excluded from the world’s trade.

Initially a 10% zakat (tax) on opium were paid to the villages for their welfare but after the Taliban came into power these were directed to the Taliban’s treasury.

Taliban also imposed a 10% zakat on the drug traffickers and some taxes were also imposed on heroin labs.

These taxes were later increased to 20% which brought $45 million to $200 million a year to the Taliban’s treasury.

Taliban expanded its narcotics economy by providing official government licenses for opium cultivation, teaching farmers on poppy cultivation and by distributing fertilizers.

However, the opium trade had low priority for the US military present in the Afghanistan. This is evident from exclusion of narcotics trade from the Doha Accords.

How has opium helped Afghanistan?

Afghanistan’s economic situation is not good and they also do not have access to global funds. Therefore, they rely on taxes along with other humanitarian aids.

In this economic scenario poppy cultivation has become an important pillar of Afghanistan’s economy.

It has helped in the growth of rural economy, providing employment opportunities in rural areas and people have also become dependent on it to sustain their livelihoods.

The opiate export was valued at 9-14% per cent of the country’s GDP.

Moreover, the current ban imposed on the poppy cultivation is not good as this has increased the prices of the opium in the market.

There is fear that high prices may attract people towards poppy cultivation. Therefore, Taliban should remove the ban as it will help them economically and politically.

How has other countries responded towards the drug markets of Afghanistan?

Russia and Central Asian neighboring countries of Afghanistan view this as a threat, i.e. religious extremism, radicalization, and terrorism. India has also raised its concerns.

The threat of terrorism and drug trafficking from Afghanistan are also discussed as inter-related threats to regional and global security in the SCO security meeting.

Higher education needs relief from its resource crunch

News: Public Universities (State/Central) in India are facing the problem of underinvestment and they even lack funds to fulfil their basic needs.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been unable to undertake repairs and maintenance due to the lack of funds. This lack of funds has raised concerns on the funding of UGC.

What is the stand of University Grants Commission (UGC) on current finance problems of public universities?

As per the UGC, the grants given to the Universities have increased from the past years.

For example, the grants given in the year 2020-21 was 4,781 times of 1955-56. UGC funding went up from 0.02% in 1955-56 to 0.05% in 2020-21 as a proportion of GDP at factor cost.

However, these funds are not enough to fulfil the demands of universities as universities/colleges have also increased with the time along with higher enrolment.

Therefore, even though grants seems more but in real terms they have declined.

How has the grants given to universities changed?

Annual grants to higher education institutions rose from ₹10,527.3 crore in 2013-14 to ₹12,716.7 crore in 2020-21 which is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.4%.

Prominent central universities are at better place compared to others as their CAGR have increased more than other central universities.

For example, JNU’s CAGR is at 5.6% BHU’s 7.2%, JMI’s 7.8%, AU’s 8.7% and AMU’s 10.7%.

Therefore, from the above data it is evident that the grants have increased for almost all universities but the problems face by universities still persists.

Why universities face problems even with the increase in grants?

Universities earlier used to receive grants in quarterly instalments but there has been change in the disbursement procedures of grants.

Presently, Universities have to reclaim their grants through a Public Financial Management System (PFMS) month by month.

These grants are given to universities only if they meet the specified conditions (on the basis of conditionality) and this has also deprived universities to earn the interest income on the saved grants.

Moreover, if grants given particular purpose remain unutilized, it cannot be utilized for another purpose.

For example, grants for salaries can only be used to give salary to the designated faculty and it cannot be used for other expenditures like payments to contractual guest, part-time and visiting faculty, etc.

Further, grants required for expenditures such as repairs, maintenance have to be taken from non-salary recurring grants. The grants given under this are usually low than the actual requirements.

Therefore, with the introduction of new procedure for disbursement, universities face problems and their conditions were better during the five-year plans.

How were five-year plans beneficial for universities?

The five-year plans provided universities with development grant.

The discontinuation of five-year plans replaced the development grants by Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) loans for Revitalizing Infrastructure and System in Education (RISE).

During the 11th and 12th five-year plans, central universities received ₹7,829.5 crore and ₹9,346.3 crore but the current HEFA/RISE loans act as a burden for the universities as they have to repay them with the interest.

Moreover, the financial problem makes universities to raise fees which acts a burden on the students and they are forced to look for loans which mostly ends up with NPAs.

Therefore, there is a need to come up with better funding options for universities as other methods are complex and are more costly to the public exchequer.

GS Paper 3

Indian military’s capabilities: Handling a high-tech Chinese military

News: Recently, Prime Minister has laid the foundation stone for the C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility. He talked about his vision of “atmanirbharta” in the defence sector. But there remain serious questions over the Indian military’s capabilities.

What are the concerns associated with the Indian military’s capabilities?

India’s ability to prevail in the two-front war: China is fighting its version of an “informatised war.” In this killer robots, driven and enhanced by artificial intelligence, machine learning and quantum computing quickly will threaten the Indian Army that is driven in a more conventional manner.  An opportunistic Pakistani military might not ignore the opportunity to jump into battle. 

So, the Indian military going to such a battle in future using tactics and equipment very similar to those used in the 1999 Kargil conflict will severely limit India’s ability to prevail in such a battle.

Technological advancement in battle: The glimpses in Azerbaijan-Armenia and Ukraine show the new threat to ground forces is posed by remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), or weaponised drones, that are driven by ultra-modern technologies. These can overleap the enemy’s forward defences to strike its reserve echelons and tactical infrastructures.

While Pakistan enjoys parity with India in legacy weapon systems, it is beginning to enjoy superiority in drone warfare. This is due to RPVs supplied by China, including the Wing Loong and RPVs obtained from Iran and Turkey.

India does not have a doctrine to counter new threats: India does not have a tactical, and operational doctrine for drones. This is a painful absence of a National Security Strategy (NSS).

India’s weakness in Grey Zone warfare: This involves information, disinformation, cyber-attacks, gathering electronic, signals and satellite intelligence and altering historical records. For instance, China did these in Tawang, Doklam and Ladakh.

India’s lag in conventional fields: China has dominance over India’s conventional fields, such as long-range fires and missiles to support ground operations.

How advantages are the Indian military’s capabilities compared to China?

Resilience and fighting quality of India’s combat forces: India has a significant advantage in this domain. Indian soldiers face high mountain terrain severely tests even the most rugged of them.

In contrast, the average Chinese soldier is a lone male child, pampered by an adoring family and ill-prepared for the hazards and discomforts of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

However, this will be diluted by the so-called Agniveers having only short-service tenures.

India is not alone: With India’s growing relations with Indo-Pacific democracies such as Japan, Australia, the UK and the US, India would quickly align and combine the Indian forces with the AUKUS and Quadrilateral groupings. This will split Chinese forces in two directions — the land border with India and the South China Sea maritime theatre.

Global Energy Transition: Blurred energy nirvana: The world is fast turning green

News: Coal energy is getting increased, but renewable energy is growing rapidly.

What is the present trend of Global Energy Transition?

Few regions are expanding their coal power plants. For instance, a) Europe is extending the life of its coal plants, b) India is expanding coal production.

On the other hand, a few regions are expanding their renewable energy. For instance, South Africa and Indonesia have just secured $1 billion from the climate investment funds to prematurely retire coal plants to transition to renewables.

Solar energy: As much as 250 gigawatts of new solar capacity is projected to come online this year. This is 38% higher than in 2021. The top five markets would be China, the US, India, Brazil and Germany.

Solar installations far outpace wind because combined with batteries, Solar power factories provide a compelling choice to households, businesses and utilities.

Wind energy: A record 106 gigawatts of wind will be installed globally this year, with cumulative installations surpassing 1,000 gigawatts next year. Offshore wind represents 13% of total installations in 2022.

Increase in Corporate power purchase deals: a) Alphabet’s Google signed its largest solar deal agreeing to buy 942 megawatts to eliminate emissions from its operations, b) According to a private report, almost 22 gigawatts of corporate power purchase agreements have been signed globally, c) Corporate power purchase deals hit a record high in 2021, with more than 30 gigawatts procured.

Increase in EVs: BNEF’s latest update projects passenger EV sales at 10.6 million this year. India EV sales are also rising, but there is a skew towards two- and three-wheelers.

What are the challenges ahead in the Global Energy Transition?

a) Widening gap between energy transition asset finance in developed countries compared with emerging markets and developing economies (EM&DEs). For instance, while global energy transition asset finance hit a record $785 billion in 2021, EM&DEs saw only a fraction of that with $67 billion, the lowest share in 10 years. b) There is skewed finance among EM&DEs also. For instance, just handful of countries, such as India, Brazil and Vietnam have more finance allocation to green energy transition.

What will be the next phase of the Global Energy Transition?

Battery storage: Power from a battery is the next energy revolution. Storing solar, wind or other kinds of power for later use is becoming increasingly common. Battery technology is also evolving to lean more on metals that are easily acquired and at lower costs such as sodium-ion batteries.

Vehicle-to-grid or V2G technology: The growing number of electric vehicle (EV) batteries open another avenue for storing excess power for later use. Millions of EV batteries can be used to import or export power to the grid.

EV owners would get some revenue for participation, and grid operators would save on costly upgrades.

Non-Proliferation Treaty to ban fossil fuels: Vanuatu’s big plea does little to arrest climate change

News: The President of Vanuatu, a small Pacific island, wanted the UN General Assembly to adopt a universal Non-Proliferation Treaty to ban the use of fossil fuels across the world.

Vanuatu represents a strong and vocal group of small island developing states.  Many including the Mayor of Kolkata (the capital of one of the largest coal-producing States in India) have lent their support to such a treaty.

About the previous instances of phasing out of coal

Last year at the Glasgow climate conference, there was a call for phaseout of coal. India argued that a phaseout was unfair to countries that were heavily dependent on coal power in the medium term.

So, the call was toned down from phaseout to phase down of unabated coal power and inefficient fuel subsidies.

What are the challenges in implementing a Non-Proliferation Treaty to ban fossil fuels?

a) A call to end fossil fuels through a mandate in the UN has very different implications than when it is presented under the UN Climate Change Convention, b) The UNGA treaty will dilute the legal responsibility of the polluting countries to reduce their emissions on the basis of responsibility, capability and national circumstances, as required by the Climate Change Convention, c) The treaty will also make no provision for technological and financial innovations that are necessary to ensure the transition.

Why targeting coal through Non-Proliferation Treaty to ban fossil fuels is not desirable?

1) Coal phasedown is not the only way to reduce global emissions. This is because a substantial share of rising global emissions is accounted for by the unsustainable levels of consumption of natural resources and lavish lifestyles led by the consumers in developed economies, 2) Coal is the mainstay of primary energy supply in many countries such as India and forms the basic and essential component of their energy system, 3) A plan to drastically reduce coal fired power may create insurmountable difficulties in securing the progress of developing economies towards key sustainable development goals, 4) While the developed economies have full access to alternative sources of energy the developing nations are handicapped.

What needs to be done instead of creating a Non-Proliferation Treaty to ban fossil fuels?

A just transition needs to be built on the promise that green energy and a green future will be available to all.

Consumers in countries that consume at an unsustainable pace and contribute to rising emissions have a much greater responsibility to clean up the planet and support the growth of green energy. For instance, the Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) movement in India.

Building climate-resilient infrastructure in developing and growing countries has to be given as much importance as phasing down coal and investment in energy innovations and alternative technologies.

Delhi’s air quality crisis: Why we are all culpable

News: Almost every year after Diwali — for about a decade or so — an invasion of particulate matter makes Delhi unhealthy for people whose air passages are vulnerable to irritants.

Delhi’s air quality gets attention only when people have severe impacts. There has been no concerted activism to push the authorities to clean up the city’s air. Hence, the problem requires a long-term solution.

What are the reasons for Delhi’s poor air quality?

A combination of geographical factors, industrial activities and lifestyle choices of its residents are the major reasons for heavy pollution in Delhi. Geographical factors include the city’s location, wind speeds, etc. A large fleet of the city’s private vehicles makes the air unhealthy for the most part of the year.

The movement of pollutants and smoke from neighbouring states make the condition worse.

What are the other polluted cities worldwide, and how did they control pollution?

a) London’s tryst with smog is well-known, b) In the 1950s and ’60s, the air in Los Angeles became so unhealthy which resulted in athletes training indoors, parents keeping their children out of school, etc.

Los Angeles: It adopted a combination of environmental legislation that gave autonomy to regulatory institutions and citizen activism that kept the government on its toes.

What needs to be done to improve Delhi’s air quality?

Regulation is not only limited to imposing bans. Instead, the government has to persuade industry — most of them small factories — to adopt environment-friendly measures.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Ministry of Education released a detailed Report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22

Source: The post is based on the following articles:

a. “Ministry of Education released a detailed Report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22” published in PIB on 3rd November 2022.

b. “Decline in pre-primary enrolments continued in 2021-22, says government report”  published in The Hindu on 4th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Ministry of Education has released a detailed report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22 on school education of India.

What is UDISE+?

Developed by: Department of School Education & Literacy in the year 2018-19.

Mandate: To collect online data from the schools to overcome the issues related to the erstwhile practice of manual data filling in paper format.

Information collected through UDISE+ is utilized for the planning, optimized resource allocation and implementation of various education-related programs and assessments of progress made.

Data: UDISE+ collects information on parameters ranging from school, Infrastructure, teachers, enrolments, examination results etc.

– In UDISE+ 2021-22, additional data on important indicators viz., digital library, peer learning, hard spot identification, number of books available in school library etc have been collected for the first time to align with the NEP 2020 initiatives.  

What are the key findings of UDISE+ 2021-22?

Enrollment: In 2021-22, the total number of students enrolled in school education from primary to higher secondary stood at 25.57 crores as compared to 25.38 crore enrolment in 2020-21 registering an increase of 19.36 lakh enrolments. 

– However, the number of children entering pre-primary classes in 2021-2022 saw a further decline, resulting in 30% fewer students in this school section as compared to the pre-COVID period.

– Further, the enrolment in primary classes which include classes 1 to 5, also saw a drop for the first time—falling from 12.20 lakh in 2020-2021 to 12.18 lakh in 2021-2022.

State wise: Uttar Pradesh has witnessed the highest enrollment of students in government schools and recruitment of teachers.

A decline in Schools: For the first time since the pandemic, there was a decline in the number of schools due to closures as well as a lack of teachers.

— There were 20,000 fewer schools in 2021-2022 as the total number of schools dropped from 15.09 lakh to 14.89 lakh. These were primarily schools under “private and other management”.

Computer and Internet Facilities: Computer facilities were available in 44.75% of schools, while Internet access was available only in 33.9% of schools. However, their availability has improved as compared to pre-Covid when only 38.5% of schools had computers and 22.3% had Internet facilities.

Gross Enrollment Ratio(GER): It compares the enrollment in a specific level of education to the population of the corresponding age group.

– GER for the primary section has improved from 101.3% in 2018-2019 to 104.8% in 2021-2022. For secondary classes, it has risen to 79.6% in 2021-22, from 76.9% in 2018-19 and for higher secondary level, it has increased from 50.14% to 57.6%.

Gender Parity Index(GPI) of GER which indicates the representation of girls in school with respect to their population in the corresponding age group was also found to be favourable to girls with a GPI value of 1.

Cor-AuNPs: A gold-mushroom combo to ease drug delivery

Source: The post is based on the article “A gold-mushroom combo to ease drug delivery” published in The Hindu on 4th November 2022.

What is the News?

Medicines may soon have traces of Cordy gold nanoparticles(Cor-AuNPs) for greater efficacy.

What are Cordy gold nanoparticles(Cor-AuNPs)?

Cordy gold nanoparticles(Cor-AuNPs) are derived from the synthesis of the extracts of Cordyceps militaris and Gold Salts.

It is an outcome of a collaborative experiment by scientists from Four Indian Institutions.

It has earned an international patent from Germany. 

The use of these nanoparticles in medicines could make drug delivery in the human body faster and more surer.

What is Cordyceps Militaris?

Cordyceps militaris is a high value parasitic fungus. It is also called a super mushroom because of its tremendous medicinal properties. Wild Cordyceps mushroom is found in the eastern Himalayan belt.

It is also grown in the lab at the Department of Biotechnology’s Technology Incubation Centre (TIC) at Bodoland University, one of the collaborators of the patented research work. 

What are Gold salts?

Gold salts are ionic chemical compounds of gold. The term, “gold salts” is a misnomer and is the term for the gold compounds used in medicine.

Adaptation target not keeping pace with growing risks: UNEP Report

Source: The post is based on the article “Adaptation target not keeping pace with growing risks: UNEP Report” published in Business Standard on 4th November 2022.

What is the News?

The United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) has released the Adaptation Gap Report 2022 titled “Too Little, Too Slow: Climate adaptation failure puts world at risk”.

Note: Adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts.

What are the key findings of the report?

Climate impacts are increasing across the globe. A multi-year drought in the Horn of Africa, unprecedented flooding in South Asia and severe summer heat and record-breaking droughts across multiple regions of the Northern Hemisphere among others point to mounting and ever-increasing climate risks. 

Ambitious, accelerated action to adapt to climate change is therefore paramount together with strong mitigation efforts. 

Global efforts in adaptation planning, financing and implementation continue to make incremental progress but fail to keep pace with increasing climate risks. 

For instance, a third of the 197 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have incorporated quantified and time-bound targets for adaptation. And 90% of them have considered gender and disadvantaged groups. 

But on the other hand, international adaptation finance flows are 5-10 times lower than required and this gap continues to grow. Finance for adaptation increased to $29 billion in 2020 — only 4% increase over 2019.

This is when developing countries’ estimated annual adaptation needs are $160-$340 billion by 2030 and $315-$565 billion by 2050.

What are the recommendations given by the report?

The adaptation gap must be addressed in four critical ways:

The first is to increase financing for adaptation.

Second, the world urgently needs a new business model for turning adaptation priorities into investable projects.

The third is the availability of climate risk data and information — an issue for adaptation planning in many developing countries.

The fourth priority is the implementation and operationalisation of early warning systems against extreme weather events and slow onset changes such as sea level rise.

Panamaram heronry set to get a new lease of life

Source: The post is based on the article “Panamaram heronry set to get a new lease of life” published in The Hindu on 3rd November 2022.

What is the News?

Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) and the Panamaram grama panchayat have joined hands to plant bamboo and vetiver saplings to stop the sandbank erosion around Panamaram heronry.

What is Panamaram Heronry?

Panamaram Heronry is the largest breeding ground of different species of herons in the Malabar region, Kerala.

It was formed on a sandbank on the Panamaram river. It is covered with vegetation, predominantly bamboo groves.

Note: Panamaram River is a tributary of the Kabani River along with Mananthavady, Babali, Noolpuzha and Nugu Rivers.

Significance: This is an important site for breeding 9 species of water birds which include species like black-headed-ibis, purple heron, large egret, median egret, little egret, pond heron, night heron, and little cormorant.

– The site is also the only location in the State where the cattle egret breeds.

Threats faced by the site: Destruction of bamboo groves after a massive blossoming of the plant and illegal sand mining near the site.

Captive mines may get to sell 50% output in open market

Source: The post is based on the article “Captive mines may get to sell 50% output in open market” published in Livemint on 4th November 2022.

What is the News?

The government is planning to soon allow captive mines producing major minerals to sell half their output in the open market.

What are Captive mines?

Click Here to read

What is the current limit on captive mines?

Currently, captive mine operators can sell 50% of the annual output from their mines but only after meeting the entire needs of the end-use plant for which a mineral block was originally allocated by the government. 

This limit is thought to disincentivize miners from raising mineral production as the end-use clause was seen as an impediment.

What are the changes the government is planning to bring?

The government is planning to allow captive mines producing major minerals to sell half their output in the open market.

This change is aimed at incentivizing captive mines to increase mineral production in turn boosting manufacturing and job creation. It essentially allows captive miners to turn commercial miners for half their production. 

Ministry of Education releases report on Performance Grading Index for States/UTs for the year 2020-21

Source: The post is based on the following articles:

“Ministry of Education releases report on Performance Grading Index for States/UTs for the year 2020-21” published in PIB on 3rd November 2022.

“PGI 2020-21 for school education: Punjab among top 7 states; outperforms Delhi once again”  published in Indian Express on 4th November 2022.

What is the News?

The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education has released the Performance Grading Index(PGI) for States/UTs for 2020-21.

What is the Performance Grading Index(PGI)?

Purpose: To provide insights and data-driven mechanisms on the performance and achievements of the success of school education across all States/UTs.

Objective: To promote evidence-based policymaking and highlight course correction to ensure quality education for all. 

Parameters: PGI structure comprises 1000 points across 70 indicators grouped into 2 categories: Outcomes, Governance Management(GM). 

– These categories are further divided into 5 domains, viz., Learning Outcomes (LO), Access (A), Infrastructure & Facilities (IF), Equity (E) & Governance Process (GP).

Classification: PGI 2020-21 classified the States/UTs into ten grades viz., the highest achievable Grade is Level 1, which is for State/UT scoring more than 950 points out of a total of 1000 points. The lowest grade is Level 10 which is for scores below 551.

What are the key findings of the PGI 2021-22?

A total of 7 States and UTs namely Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh have attained Level 2 (score 901-950) as compared to none in 2017-18 and 4 in 2019-20.

The newly formed UT Ladakh has made significant improvements in PGI from Level 8 to Level 4 in 2020-21.

What is the significance of PGI 2021-22?

It is expected to help States and UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level.

It will also encourage states to perform better and to adopt best practices followed by performers.

NCST supports proposal to include Pahari community in ST list of Jammu and Kashmir

Source: The post is based on the article “NCST supports proposal to include Pahari community in ST list of Jammu and Kashmir” published in The Hindu on 3rd November 2022.

What is the News?

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes(NCST) has approved the inclusion of the ‘Pahari ethnic group’ in the Scheduled Tribes list of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. 

NCST has also called for the inclusion of the “Paddari tribe”, “Koli” and “Gadda Brahman” communities to be included in the ST list of J&K. 

How is a community added or removed from ST lists? 

A State government may choose to recommend certain communities for addition or subtraction from the list of STs based on its discretion. This recommendation may come from studies it commissions.

Following this, the proposal to include or remove any community from the Scheduled List is sent to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs from the concerned State government. 

After this, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, through its own deliberations examines the proposal, and sends it to the Registrar General of India(RGI). 

Once approved by the RGI, the proposal is sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

NCST after approving it sent it back to the Union government which introduces it in the Cabinet for final approval.

After this, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs will be required to bring a Bill to Parliament. Following this, the addition will be finalized once the President of India notifies the revised schedule as empowered by Article 342 of the Constitution of India.  

Who has recommended the inclusion of the Pahari ethnic group in the ST list of J&K?

Currently, Jammu and Kashmir have 12 communities that have been notified as STs.

The suggestion for the inclusion of the Pahari ethnic group had come from the commission set up for socially and educationally backward classes in the Union Territory of J&K headed by Justice (Retd.) G.D. Sharma. 

An indigenous technology from IIT Madras can now produce new-generation super-abrasive tools

Source: The post is based on the article “An indigenous technology from IIT Madras can now produce new-generation super-abrasive tools” published in PIB on 3rd November 2022.

What is the News?

A team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has developed a new indigenous technology to produce new-generation super-abrasive tools.

What are Abrasives?

Abrasives may be defined as a hard material that can be used for Polishing, Smoothening, and Grinding the surface of other materials. 

The essential characteristics of an abrasive are its hardness and brittleness.

What are Superabrasives?

Superabrasives are used when the material being processed is either too hard or too delicate for regular abrasives. Examples of Super Abrasives include cubic boron nitride (CBN) and diamond.

What has been developed by scientists?

Scientists have developed a new indigenous technology to produce new-generation super-abrasive tools.

The newly developed technology can produce multipoint/single-layer super abrasive tools for advanced grinding applications to meet high productivity and energy-efficient material removal requirements.

The tools produced using the new technology also have enhanced life.

Tokhü Emong Bird Count(TEBC): Beyond Amur falcons: Nagaland to undertake first bird count

Source: The post is based on the article “Beyond Amur falcons: Nagaland to undertake first bird count” published in The Hindu on 4th November 2022.

What is the News?

Nagaland is undertaking the first avian documentation exercise called Tokhü Emong Bird Count(TEBC).

This exercise aims to go beyond the documentation of Amur falcons, the migratory raptor that put the State on the world birding map.

What is Tokhü Emong Bird Count(TEBC)?

Tokhü Emong Bird Count(TEBC) is Nagaland’s first bird documentation event to celebrate the birds of the state. 

Organized by: Wokha Forest Division and the Divisional Management Unit, Nagaland Forest Management Project (NFMP), Wokha, Nagaland and Bird Count India.

The event has been timed with the post-harvest Tokhü Emong festival of the Lotha Nagas to spread awareness about the State’s avian diversity

The event falls within the Salim Ali Bird Count, a nationwide event conducted by the Bombay Natural History Society.

The basic activity during this event is to go outdoors on any or all days from November 4-7 from anywhere in Nagaland, spend at least 15 minutes watching birds and upload your bird list to eBird, the bird recording platform.

What is the significance of this event?

Nagaland is a State with diverse festivals and diverse birdlife. The TEBC is the first of initiatives where the community is encouraged to celebrate the festival with birds.

CRISPR gene-editing possible in temperature sensitive organisms, plants & crop varieties

Source: The post is based on the article “CRISPR gene-editing possible in temperature sensitive organisms, plants & crop varieties” published in PIB on 3rd November 2022.

What is the News?

The CRISPR gene-editing technology that received the Nobel Prize in 2020 has witnessed a new height. Indian scientists have now demonstrated for the first time that the CRISPR-associated Cas9 enzyme can bind to and cut the target DNA at very low temperatures.

What is CRISPR?

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) are short DNA sequences found in the genome of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria, which are reminders of previous bacteriophage (viruses) attacks that the bacteria successfully defended against. 

Cas9 enzyme (part of bacteria’s defense mechanism) uses these flags to precisely target and cut any foreign DNA, thus protecting the bacteria from future attacks by similar bacteriophages. 

The unprecedented precision of targeting the DNA sequences and then efficiently cutting them is the basis for CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

What has been demonstrated by scientists now related to CRISPR?

CRISPR-Cas9 technology has been successfully used for many purposes including basic studies of gene function, agriculture and medicine to increase our knowledge of disease processes and their potential future therapies. So far, most binding trials were typically performed at 37 °C.

Now the Indian scientists have demonstrated for the first time that the associated Cas9 enzyme, which acts as molecular scissors to cut DNA at a location specified by a guide RNA, can bind to and cut the target DNA at very low temperatures as low as 4 degrees Celsius.

This will make it possible to edit genes in temperature-sensitive organisms, plants or crop varieties.