UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 24th November 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Air Quality Index (AQI)

Subject: Geography

Why in News?

Recently, the Air Quality Index in the overall Delhi region was recorded at 323.

Background:-

• The air quality level was recorded in the “Very Poor” category in the National Capital.

About Air Quality Index (AQI):-

• Air Quality Index (AQI) is a number used by government agencies to measure air pollution levels and communicate it to the population. 
• There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe.
• Each of these categories is decided based on ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints).
• AQ sub-index and health breakpoints are evolved for eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb) for which short-term (up to 24-hours) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.
• As the AQI increases, it means that a large percentage of the population will experience severe adverse health effects.
• The measurement of the AQI requires an air monitor and an air pollutant concentration over a specified averaging period.
• The results are grouped into ranges.
• Each range is assigned a descriptor, a colour code and a standardized public health advisory.
• The pollution sources in India and in most Asian countries are numerous and incompletely understood.
• In Delhi, for example, it comes mostly from light and heavy-duty vehicle traffic emissions, road dust, solid fuel combustion for heating and cooking, biomass, waste burning, thermal power plants, diesel generators, construction and small-scale local industries.

Government Initiatives:-

• The National Air Quality Index Standard (NAQI): It was launched by The Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, on 17 September 2014.
  • The initiative constitutes part of the Government’s mission to introduce the “culture of cleanliness”, as air pollution has been a huge concern in the country, especially in urban areas
• The National Air Monitoring Program (NAMP): it covers 240 cities in the country, has been operated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT), providing data in the public domain, on a real-time basis.
• System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) Portal.
• Graded Response Action Plan.
• Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)
• Reducing Vehicular Pollution: BS-VI Vehicles, Push for Electric Vehicles (EVs), Odd-Even Policy as an emergency measure.
• Subsidy to farmers for buying Turbo Happy Seeder (THS) Machine.

Source: AIR

Remembering Justice Fathima Beevi

Subject: Indian Society

Why in News?

Justice Fathima Beevi, the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India (also the first Muslim woman Judge of SC), passed away at the age of 96 in Kerala’s Kollam.

Who was Justice Fathima Beevi?

• Early life: Born in 1927, Justice Beevi was the eldest of eight children and came from a family where her father, Annaveetil Meera Sahib, encouraged his daughters’ education despite societal norms.
• Decision for Law: Her father persuaded her to pursue law instead of post-graduation in Chemistry, inspired by the story of Anna Chandy, the first woman judicial officer in Travancore.
• Breaking Barriers: She made history by graduating in law in 1950, becoming the first woman law graduate to receive the gold medal from the Bar Council.

A Symbol of Women’s Empowerment

• Pioneering Achievement: Justice Fathima Beevi’s appointment as the first Muslim woman judge of the Supreme Court was a milestone in India’s legal history.
• Role Model: She became an icon of women’s empowerment, encouraging women to pursue careers in the legal field.
• Recognition for Kerala: Kerala gained recognition as the state that contributed the first female judge to the country through her appointment.

A Trailblazing Legal Career

• Junior Advocate: She began her legal career as a junior advocate at Kollam district court, facing resistance from orthodox elements due to her headscarf.
• Barrier Breaker: Despite initial challenges, Justice Beevi rose through the ranks, eventually joining the judicial service as a munsiff in 1958.
• Remarkable Achievements: She continued to break barriers, becoming the district sessions judge in 1974 and getting elected as a munsiff through a competitive exam.

Political Career

• Judicial Ascension: Justice Beevi’s journey continued as she was appointed as a judge of the Kerala High Court in 1983, and later elevated to the Supreme Court in 1989.
• Champion of Equality: In the Supreme Court, she advocated for equality in significant verdicts, including cases related to reservation and constitutional safeguards against arbitrary state authority.
• Governor of Tamil Nadu: Justice Beevi served as the governor of Tamil Nadu from 1997 to 2001, making headlines for her role in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and political developments.

Source: Indian Express

GS-II

The impact of violence on a child’s mind

Subject: Polity and Governance

Why in News?

The article emphasizes the profound psychological impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on children, drawing insights from educational thinkers like Maria Montessori and Elias Canetti. It highlights challenges such as potential long-term repercussions, the failure of current education systems, and the need for inclusive educational initiatives.

Key Highlights:

• Montessori’s Perspective: Maria Montessori’s insights on the impact of childhood experiences, particularly exposure to violence, on the cycle of revenge and its contribution to the root causes of war.
• Canetti’s Argument: Elias Canetti’s exploration of the child’s mind, emphasizing the development of revengeful thoughts from violent experiences and its potential evolution into adult rebellion.
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The psychological aftermath of Israel’s assault on Gaza, with a focus on the predicted impact on Palestinian children, especially adolescents, facing forced displacement and an uncertain future.
• Educational Philosophies: Montessori’s pedagogic philosophy linking childhood experiences to major societal issues and the inter-war movement’s attempt to use education to combat the culture of war.

Key Challenges:

• Psychological Impact: Predicted long-term psychological repercussions on Palestinian children due to the trauma of conflict, displacement, and loss of childhood.
• Failure of Education Systems: Critique of current education systems worldwide for lacking the energy and focus needed to mitigate the political impact of dangerous ideologies and nurture peace.
• Historical Hostilities: The perpetuation of divisive ideas through education, contributing to the reinforcement of historical hostilities in contiguously located hostile nations.
• Political Ignorance: Leaders’ disregard for educational messages promoting peace, as exemplified by Israel’s leaders ignoring Montessori’s insights amid conflict.

Key Examples discussed in article for your value addition in answers:

• Reference to Maria Montessori’s classics, including “The Secret of Childhood” and “The Absorbent Mind.”
• Collection of Montessori’s war and peace lectures during the 1930s in the book titled “Education and Peace.”
• Elias Canetti’s insights in “Crowds and Power,” highlighting the impact of violence on the child’s mind and the development of revengeful thoughts.
• Montessori and Rabindranath Tagore’s involvement in an inter-war movement using education to combat the culture of war.

Key Terms and Phrases:

• Cycle of Revenge: Montessori’s concept that a child’s encounter with violence sets off a cycle of revenge, identified as a root cause of war.
• Resistance to Social Norms: Canetti’s notion that violence experienced in childhood can lead to adult resistance, transforming into rebellion.
• Culture of War: The inter-war movement’s initiative, involving educators like Montessori and Tagore, aimed at using education to combat the culture of war.
• Impact of Dangerous Ideologies: Critique of education’s perceived inability to reverse the political impact of ideologies contributing to conflict.

Critical Analysis:

• Educational Potential: Acknowledgment of education’s potential to mitigate the impact of violent imagery, coupled with frustration over the perceived lack of energy in current education systems.
• Global Disappointment with Education: Growing disappointment with education’s ability to nurture basic good sense, exemplified by the failure to prevent conflicts in Russia, Israel, and the U.S.
• Focus on Politics: Critique of current discussions about the future of Gaza, primarily focused on politics, with a call to include considerations for the future of education in the region.
• Reinforcement of Divisive Ideas: Observation that education often reinforces and perpetuates divisive ideas, preparing the adult mind to accept such ideas as the only way forward.

Way Forward:

• Inclusive Educational Initiatives: Emphasis on inclusive educational initiatives to combat the culture of war and break the cycle of historical influences on children’s minds.
• Integration of Philosophical Perspectives: Advocacy for integrating educational and philosophical perspectives to pave the way for a more peaceful future, particularly in conflict-ridden regions.
• Global Reassessment of Education: Urgent need for a global reassessment of education’s power to inculcate basic good sense and contribute to peace-building.
• Educational Focus in Political Discussions: Call to include discussions about the future of education alongside political considerations in conflict-ridden regions like Gaza and Israel.

Source: Indian Express

AGNI Initiative

Subject: Government and Schemes

Why in News?

Recently, the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush, launched the “Ayurveda Gyan Naipunya Initiative” (AGNI) for physicians practising in the field of Ayurveda.

About the AGNI Initiative:

• Aim: To provide a platform for Ayurveda practitioners to report their innovative practises and experiences in various disease conditions, along with promoting the culture of evidence-based practise among Ayurveda practitioners.
• Objectives of the Initiative
  • To promote the culture of reporting evidence-based practise among Ayurveda practitioners.
  • To document the reported successful therapeutic regimens for various disease conditions involving single drug/ Formulation/ Procedures for the purpose of education and academics.
  • To identify interested Ayurveda practitioners for collaboration in the creation of a database through applications and capacity building through training in research methods and good clinical practises.
  • To undertake research for mainstreaming pragmatic practises through scientific validation and evidence-based appraisal    

Key Facts about Central Council for Research in Ayurveda Sciences

• It is an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India.
• It is an apex body in India for undertaking, coordinating, formulating, developing, and promoting research on scientific lines in Ayurvedic sciences.
• The research activities of the Council include Medicinal Plant Research (Medico-Ethno Botanical Survey, Pharmacognosy, and Tissue Culture), Drug Standardization, Pharmacological Research, Clinical Research, Literary Research & Documentation and Tribal Health Care Research Programme.
• Headquarter: New Delhi

Source: PIB

[Question: 910942]

GS-III

Lucy Mission

Subject: Science and Technology

Why in News?

Recently, the Lucy spacecraft successfully completed its first flyby of an asteroid named Dinkinesh.

Background:-

• It is a mission by NASA.

About Lucy Mission:-

• It was successfully launched on 16, 2021, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US.
• The spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V 401 rocket.
• It is a NASA space probe.
• It is on a twelve-year journey to ten different asteroids.
• It is the first solar-powered spacecraft to venture so far from the Sun. 
• It will observe more asteroids than any probe before it — eight in all.
• It includes Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.
• They orbit the Sun in two loose groups: one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its orbit, the other trailing behind at the same distance from the Sun as Jupiter.
• Asteroids sharing an orbit with a planet, but which are located at the leading (L4) and trailing (L5) Lagrangian points, are known as Trojan asteroids.
• The mission is named after ‘Lucy’, a 3.2 million-year-old ancestor who belonged to a species of hominins (which include humans and their ancestors).
• The spacecraft carries two infrared spectrometers and four cameras.

Source: The Hindu

Mythimna separata

Subject: Environment and Ecology

Why in News?

Continuous warm temperatures for prolonged periods may have led to the serious Mythimna separata pest infestation in Assam that damaged paddy crops in at least 15 districts.

About Mythimna Separata:

• It is a typical long-distance migratory insect that is a major, polyphagous pest of grain crops in China and other Asian countries.
• The pest was first reported as a sporadic pest in Tamil Nadu in 1937 and Kerala and Odisha in 1957.
• The pest is known as the ear-head-cutting caterpillar, rice ear-cutting caterpillar, or armyworm.
• It feeds on leaves and can cut off panicles from the base of a crop plant.
• It frequently leaves the field looking like it has been grazed by cattle.
• During an outbreak, the pest multiplies in large numbers and moves in swarms from field to field, like an army, to feed and attack the crops.
• Favourable condition: An increase in temperatures with dryness creates a favourable condition for the pest population to increase.

What is a polyphagous pest?

• Polyphagous insect pests are primarily agricultural pests that feed on economically important agricultural and horticultural crops of wide taxonomic diversity across the globe.

Source: Down To Earth

Investor Risk Reduction Access platform

Subject: Economy

Why in News?

Recently, the chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched the Investor Risk Reduction Access platform.

About the Investor Risk Reduction Access Platform:

• It has been developed to reduce risks faced by investors in the eventuality of technical glitches at the trading member’s end at both the primary site and disaster recovery site.
• Its purpose is to provide investors with an opportunity to square off/close their open positions and cancel pending orders using the IRRA platform in case of technical glitches or unforeseen outages that render the trading member’s site inaccessible.
• It has been designed to reduce risks for investors participating in the market.
• It is not meant for taking fresh positions or orders, but only to cancel the pending orders.
• This platform will be available to trading members supporting internet-based trading (IBT) and Security Trading through Wireless Technology (STWT) for their investors. However, it will not be accessible for algo trading and institutional clients.
• It has been jointly developed by all the stock exchanges – BSE, NSE, NCDEX, MCX and Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE) 

How will this platform work?

• Stock exchanges can also monitor parameters like connectivity, order flow, and social media posts, and Suo moto initiate the enablement of the IRRA service if needed, irrespective of any such request by the trading member.
• This service shall be enabled by the exchanges, Suo moto, only in case of disruption of trading services of trading member across all the exchanges, where the trading member is a member
• On invocation, after basic checks, the platform downloads trades of the trading member from all the trading venues and sends SMS/email to investors using internet trading or wireless technology, along with a link to access IRRA.
• Once the trading member is migrated to the IRRA platform, the investors of the affected trading member will be enabled to access the IRRA platform through a secure login system using their Unique Client Code (UCC) or investor’s PAN number.

Source: Indian Express