Weekly Current Affairs (1st to 7th October 2022) - 2 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Holistic Water Management System

Context: With the rapid growth of cities, water demand has exponentially increased. Even as aspirations cause people to migrate to urban areas, water depletion and scarcity remains a huge challenge staring at people’s faces in the near future.

What is the Need for a Holistic Water Management System?

• Around 35 % of India’s population lived in urban areas as of 2020, it is expected to double by 2050.
• In urban areas, only 45 % of the demand is met using groundwater resources. Apart from this, climate change, pollution and contamination have also added to the burden on water resources.
• As water demand exceeds supply in most cities, water management needs to undergo a revolution to ensure most urban areas can be self-sufficient in the future.
• In India, there are different water management systems based on utilities like sanitation, urban water, stormwater and wastewater that deal with water-related issues in different localities. Since areas and localities define distribution and water allocation, it is often a challenge to find a unified solution.
• Thus, water management needs to undergo a revolution and Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) system for reliable supply is ensured in most urban areas for self-sufficiency in the future.

What is an Integrated Urban Water Management System?

About:

• IUWM is a process, which ensures water supply, used water management, sanitation and stormwater management can be planned in line with economic development and land use.
• This holistic process makes coordination among water departments easier at the local level.
• It also helps cities adapt to climate changes and manage water supply more efficiently.

Approaches:

• Collaborative Action: Clear coordination amongst all the stakeholders, it is easily defined and prioritizes accountability. While effective legislation will help guide local authorities, engaging local communities will lead to faster solutions in water management.
• Shift in Perception of Water: It is essential to understand how water is inseparable in its connection to economic development, city infrastructure and land use.
• Understanding Water as a Resource: Water is a resource for various end goals thus it will be easier to treat different kinds of water based on agricultural, industrial and environmental purposes.
• Customized Solutions for Different Cities: IUWM focuses on specific contexts and local requirements and prioritizes a rights-based solution approach over a one-size-fits-all approach.
  

What are the Challenges Regarding Water Management in India?

Potential Rural-Urban Conflict:

• Cities are rapidly expanding as a result of rapid urbanisation, and a large influx of migrants from rural areas has increased the per capita use of water in cities, which is causing water to be transferred from rural reservoirs to urban areas to meet the deficit.

Ineffective Waste Water Management:

• In a highly water-stressed environment, the inefficient use of wastewater is leaving India unable to make the most economical use of its resources. In cities, most of this water is in the form of greywater.
• According to a recent report published by the Central Pollution Control Board (March 2021), India’s current water treatment capacity is 27.3% and the sewage treatment capacity is 18.6% (with another 5.2% capacity being added).

Food Security Risk:

• Crops and livestock need water to grow. Water is used extensively for irrigation in agriculture and serves as a major source of domestic consumption. Given the combination of rapidly declining groundwater levels and inefficient river water management, food insecurity is likely to follow.
• The impacts of water and food scarcity can undermine basic livelihoods and exacerbate social tensions.

Rising Water Pollution:

• There is a large amount of domestic, industrial, and mining waste that is discharged into water bodies, which can lead to waterborne illnesses. Moreover, water pollution can lead to eutrophication, which can significantly impact aquatic ecosystems.

Overexploitation of Groundwater:

• 256 of 700 districts in India have reported critical or overexploited groundwater levels according to the most recent study of the Central Ground Water Board.
• A NITI Aayog report says that India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history, citing that, 21 cities- including Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai- probably exhausted their groundwater resources in 2021
• Wells, ponds and tanks are drying up as groundwater resources come under increasing pressure due to over-reliance and unsustainable consumption. This has escalated the water crisis.

Way Forward

• With climate change and population growth leading to increased water use, new solutions have to be conceived for better urban water management. More people in different local contexts need to be made aware of the challenges.
• Similarly, there are changes required in institutions like local departments that play a crucial role. It is essential that holistic and systemic solutions are implemented to solve water issues.

Criterion for SC Status

Context: Recently, the Supreme Court has sought the government's position on petitions challenging the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950, which allows only members of Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religions to be recognised as SCs.

What is the Petition about?

• The petitions arguing for inclusion Dalit Christians and Muslims have cited several independent Commission reports that have documented the existence of caste and caste inequalities among Indian Christians and Indian Muslims.
• Petitions cited that even after conversion, members who were originally from SCs continued to experience the same social disabilities.
• The petitions have argued against the proposition that caste identity is lost upon conversion, noting that even in Sikhism and Buddhism, casteism is not present and yet they have been included as SCs.
• By citing various reports and commission, petitions argue that caste-based discrimination continues even after conversion, hence entitling these communities to SC status.

Who is included in the Constitution Order of 1950?

• When enacted, the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950, initially provided for recognising only Hindus as SCs, to address the social disability arising out of the practice of untouchability.
• The Order was amended in 1956 to include Dalits who had converted to Sikhism and once more in 1990 to include Dalits who had converted to Buddhism. Both amendments were aided by the reports of the Kaka Kalelkar Commission in 1955 and the High-Powered Panel (HPP) on Minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in 1983 respectively.
• The Union government in 2019 rejected the possibility of including Dalit Christians as members of SCs, rooting the exclusion on an Imperial Order of 1936 of the then colonial government, which had first classified a list of the Depressed Classes and specifically excluded “Indian Christians” from it.

Why are Dalit Christians excluded?

• The Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) had cautioned the government that SC status is meant for communities suffering from social disabilities arising out of the practice of untouchability, which it noted was prevalent in Hindu and Sikh communities.
• It also noted that such a move would significantly swell the population of SCs across the country.
• In 2001, RGI referring to 1978 note and added that like Dalit Buddhists, Dalits who converted to Islam or Christianity belonged to different sets of caste groups and not just one, as a result of which they cannot be categorised as a “single ethnic group”, which is required by Clause (2) of Article 341 for inclusion.
• Moreover, the RGI opined that since the practice of “untouchability” was a feature of Hindu religion and its branches, allowing the inclusion of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians as SCs could result in being “misunderstood internationally” as India trying to “impose its caste system” upon Christians and Muslims.
• The 2001 note also stated that Christians and Muslims of Dalit origin had lost their caste identity by way of their conversion and that in their new religious community, the practice of untouchability is not prevalent.

What are the Arguments in favor of Religion-Neutral Reservation?

• The change in religion does not change social exclusion.
• The social hierarchy and specifically caste hierarchy continues to remain within Christianity and Muslims even though the religion forbids it.
• Considering the above scenario, the reservation needs to be delinked from religion.

Is this the first time the government has considered this issue?

• In 1996, the government first brought a Bill to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order which could not be passed.
• The government within days attempted to include Dalit Christians as SCs through an Ordinance, which was sent to the President of India but could not then be promulgated.
• In 2000, the Atal Bihar Vajpayee government had sought the opinion of the Office of the RGI and the then National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on whether Dalit Christians could be included. Both had recommended against the proposition.
• Apart from this, several attempts have been made from time to time but all failed.

What are the Constitutional Provisions For Upliftment of the Schedule Caste?

• Article 15(4) refers to the special provisions for their advancement.
• Article 16(4A) speaks of “reservation in matters of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of SCs/STs, which are not adequately represented in the services under the State’.
• Article 17 abolishes Untouchability.
• Article 46 requires the State ‘to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
• Article 335 provides that the claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State.
• Article 330 and Article 332 of the Constitution respectively provide for reservation of seats in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in the legislative assemblies of the States.
• Under Part IX relating to the Panchayats and Part IXA of the Constitution relating to the Municipalities, reservation for SC and ST in local bodies has been envisaged and provided.

Role of Nanomaterials in Solving Environmental Issues

Context: The use of modern technology like nanomaterials or Carbon Dots (CD) may offer solutions to environmental issues like water pollution.

• The urban development of modern society has resulted in the introduction of harmful and toxic pollutants into waterbodies, disturbing the integrity of the aquatic environment.
• Novel technological developments like nanotechnology provide innovative solutions for sustainable and efficient environmental cleanup.

What is Nanotechnology?

About:

• Nanotechnology is the use and the development of techniques to study physical phenomena and develop new material and devices structures in the physical size range from 1 to 100 nanometres (nm).
• Nanotechnology influences almost all areas of our lives, including manufacturing, electronics, computers and information technologies, medicine, the environment and energy storage, chemical and biological technologies and agriculture.

Nanotechnology in India:

• The emergence of nanotechnology in India has witnessed the engagement of a diverse set of players, each with their own agenda and role.
• Presently nanotechnology in India is mostly a government-led initiative. Industry participation has very recently originated.
• Nanotechnology R&D barring a few exceptions is largely being ensued at public-funded universities as well as research institutes.

What are Carbon Dots?

About:

• CDs are one of the youngest members of the carbon nanomaterial family.
• They were discovered in 2004 and have an average diameter of less than 10 nanometres.
• CDs possess remarkable optical properties, which differ peculiarly based on the precursor used for synthesis.
• They are becoming more popular as candidates in applications such as sensing and bioimaging due to their good electron donors and acceptors.
• Bioimaging relates to methods that non-invasively visualise biological processes in real time.
• Moreover, CDs are inexpensive, highly biocompatible, and environment-friendly.
• Role of CDs in Managing Environmental Issues:

Pollutant Sensing:

• CDs provide an excellent possibility for fluorescence and colourimetric environmental pollutants detection.
• They are widely used as a fluorescent nanoprobe for pollutant detection because of their high fluorescence emission.
• They also enable the detection of pollutants with colour change by the colourimetric method.
• Contaminant Adsorption:
• The technology can provide many surfaces adsorption sites due to their small size and large specific surface area.

Water Treatment:

• CDs can also be useful for water treatment as they are promising nano-fillers in fabricating thin-film nanocomposite membranes where they can form chemical bonds with other compounds.
• CDs have been produced from water hyacinth waste, which showed green fluorescence under UV light. They were also proven to be fluorescent sensors to detect herbicides causing trouble in aquatic bodies.

Pollutant Degradation:

• The technology can also be useful for pollutant degradation by providing a cutting-edge approach for next-generation photocatalysis.
• Photocatalysis includes reactions that take place by utilising light and a semiconductor.
• Organic pollutants in polluted water can act as electron and hole transferring agents, while carbon dots act as photosensitiser.

Antimicrobial:

• Antimicrobial mechanisms of CDs mainly include physical/mechanical destruction, oxidative stress, photocatalytic effect and inhibition of bacterial metabolism.
• CDs in contact with the bacteria cell under visible or natural light could efficiently generate reactive oxygen species.
• This can damage Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) or Ribonucleic Acid (RNA), causing bacteria death.

What is Categorization of Green Synthesis of Carbon Dots?

• Generally, the synthesis of carbon dots can be categorised into “top-down” and “bottom-up” methods.
• The top-down approach converts large carbon structures into quantum-sized carbon dots by laser ablation, arc discharge, and chemical or electrochemical oxidation.
• In the bottom-up method, CDs are produced from carbonising small molecule precursors by pyrolysis, carbonisation, hydrothermal processes or microwave-assisted synthesis.

Lassa Fever

Context: Recently a study has found that Climate change may aid the spread of Lassa fever, which is endemic to parts of west Africa, to the Central and Eastern parts of the African continent in the next 50 years.

What are the Findings?

• There would be a 600% jump in the number of people exposed to the virus that causes Lassa fever.
  • The number of people at risk of exposure would rise to 453 million by 2050 and 700 million by 2070, up from about 92 million in 2022.
• An estimated 80% of infections are mild or asymptomatic. But the remaining 20 % can cause haemorrhaging from the mouth and gut, low blood pressure and potential permanent hearing loss.
• Temperature, rainfall and the presence of pastureland areas are key factors that contributed to the transmission of the Lassa virus.
• If the virus is successfully introduced and propagated in a new ecologically suitable area, its growth would be limited over the first decades.

What is Lassa Fever?

About:

• The Lassa fever-causing virus is found in West Africa and was first discovered in 1969 in Lassa, Nigeria.
• The virus is a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the virus family Arenaviridae.
• The fever is spread by rats and is primarily found in countries in West Africa including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria where it is endemic.
• Mastomys rats have the potential to spread the deadly Lassa virus.
• The death rate associated with this disease is low, at around 1%. But the death rate is higher for certain individuals, such as pregnant women in their third trimester.
• According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, about 80% of the cases are asymptomatic and therefore remain undiagnosed.

Transmission:

• A person can become infected if they come in contact with household items of food that is contaminated with the urine or feces of an infected rat (zoonotic disease).
• It can also be spread, though rarely, if a person comes in contact with a sick person’s infected bodily fluids or through mucous membranes such as the eyes, nose or the mouth.

Symptoms:

• Mild symptoms include slight fever, fatigue, weakness and headache.
• Serious symptoms include bleeding, difficulty breathing, vomiting, facial swelling, pain in the chest, back, and abdomen and shock.
• Death can occur from two weeks of the onset of symptoms, usually as a result of multi-organ failure.

Treatment:

• The antiviral drug ribavirin seems to be an effective treatment for Lassa fever if given early on in the course of clinical illness.
• There are no vaccines currently licensed for the prevention of Lassa fever.

Nobel Prize in Literature 2022

Context: The 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to French author “Annie Ernaux”for“the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory”.

• In 2021, the award was given to novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”.
• The Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine for 2022 have already been awarded.

Who is Annie Ernaux?

About:

• Annie was born in 1940 and brought up in the small town of Yvetot in Normandy (France).
• She went on to study at the universities of Rouen and then Bordeaux from where she qualified as a schoolteacher and gained a higher degree in modern literature.

Career & Work:

• Her exemplary literary career started with the publication of her first book, Cleaned Out, in 1974.
• Her other major work includes “A Women’s Story”, “Happening”, “A Girl’s Story”, “Getting Lost”.

Themes of her work:

• Her books talk about the body and sexuality, intimate relationships, social inequality and the experience of changing class through education, time and memory, and the overarching question of how to write these life experiences.
• Her books have explored how shame is built into the female consciousness, and how women censor and judge themselves even in personal spaces such as a diary.

Awards & Recognition:

• Her works overall have received the French language prize and the Marguerite Yourcenar prize.
• In 2014 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cergy-Pontoise.
• Her work “The Years” was shortlisted for the Man Booker International prize.