UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 10th November 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context

Recently the President of India has greeted fellow-citizens on the eve of Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti.

About Guru Nanak Jayanti:

• Early Life:
  • He was born on April 15, 1469, at Rai Bhoi Ki Talwandi, near Lahore, which is in the Sheikhpura district of modern-day Pakistan.
  • He was born into a middle-class Hindu family and raised by his parents, Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta.
• Founder of Sikhism:
  • He was the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus and the founder of Sikhism in the 15th century.
  • He started writing the Guru Granth Sahib and completed 974 hymns.
• His Teachings:
  • He advocated the ‘Nirguna’ (devotion to and worship of formless divine) form of bhakti.
  • Guru Nanak Dev Ji spread the message of ‘Ek Omkar’ which means that God is one and is present everywhere.
  • He set up rules for congregational worship (Sangat) involving collective recitation.
  • Guru Nanak Dev Ji also gave the message of humility and service to mankind.
  • His verses also preach selfless service to humanity, prosperity and social justice for all, irrespective of differences.
  • He inspired us to practise love, unity and brotherhood.
  • One should adopt eternal values like truth, sacrifice and moral conduct from the teachings of ‘Japji Sahib’.
  • Guru Nanak travelled across South Asia and the Middle East to spread his teachings.
  • The messages of ‘Kirat Karo’ and ‘Vand Chhako’ inspire us to live with honesty and share the available resources with others.
• Steps in his honour:
  • Nankana Sahib:
    • A Gurdwara was built at his birthplace in the city now known as Nankana Sahib. It is located in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
  • Kartarpur corridor:
    • The corridor was built to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism on 12th November 2019.
    • It is one of the holiest places for Sikhs where Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji settled and preached for the last 18 years of his life.
    • It is also known as Gurpurab and is the most important festival for the followers of the religion of Sikhism as the birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev.
    • The festival is celebrated on the day of Kartik Poornima, which is the fifteenth lunar day in the month of Kartik according to the Hindu calendar, and usually falls in the month of November by the Gregorian calendar.

Source: Indian Express

Context

Recently, the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has begun field studies to put in place an Early-Warning System in the Himalayan states against major and sudden floods, rockslides, landslips, glacier lake bursts and avalanches.

What are the Early Warning Systems?

• Early Warning System is an integrated system of hazard monitoring, forecasting and prediction, disaster risk assessment, communication and preparedness activities systems and processes that enables individuals, communities, governments, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce disaster risks in advance of hazardous events.
• It helps reducing harm to people and damage to assets ahead of impending hazards, including storms, tsunamis, droughts, and heatwaves, to name a few.
• Multi-hazard early warning systems address several hazards that may occur alone or simultaneously.
• Increasing the availability of multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information is one of seven global targets set by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

What are India's Efforts in Managing Disaster?

• Establishment of NDRF:
  • India has increasingly mitigated and responded to all types of disasters, including with the establishment of its National Disaster Reaction Force (NDRF), the world’s largest rapid reaction force dedicated to disaster response.
• Establishment of NDMA:
  • The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister of India, is the apex body for Disaster Management in India. Setting up of NDMA and the creation of an enabling environment for institutional mechanisms at the State and District levels is mandated by the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
  • It lays down policies on disaster management
• India’s Role as a Foreign Disaster Relief:
  • India’s foreign humanitarian assistance has increasingly included its military assets, primarily deploying naval ships or aircraft to deliver relief.
  • In line with its diplomatic policy of “Neighbourhood First,” many of the recipient countries have been in the region of South and Southeast Asia.
• Contribution to Regional Disaster Preparedness:
  • Within the context of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), India has hosted DM Exercises that allow NDRF to demonstrate for counterparts from partner states the techniques developed to respond to various disasters.
  • Other NDRF and Indian Armed Forces exercises have brought India’s first responders into contact with those from states in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
• Managing Climate Change related Disaster:
  • India has adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030), and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, all of which make clear the connections among DRR, Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), and sustainable development.

Source: The Hindu

GS-II

Context

Despite having the largest base of 900-plus universities in the world, only 15 higher education institutions from India are in the top 1,000. This is an alarming sign for the higher education system in India.

• India’s higher education system is the world’s third-largest in terms of students, next to China and the United States.
• Although 75 percent of higher education is in the private sector, the best institutions — IITs, IIMs, NITs, AIIMS, NLS — have all been set up by the government.

NEP 2020 provision for Higher Education:

• NEP-2020 has brought tremendous changes in governance and institutional reforms aiming at the establishment of multi-disciplinary colleges, universities and clusters of higher education institutions by linking with the forthcoming industrial revolution for skilled job creation and augmenting employment avenues.
• National Research Foundation (NRF):
  • Establishment of NRF to fund outstanding research and to actively seed research in universities and colleges.
• National Testing Agency (NTA):
  • The admission system for all the universities and the undergraduate HEIs will be preferably through National Testing Agency (NTA) in order to reduce the burden of several overlapping examinations conducted by HEIs separately.
• National Educational Technology Forum:
  • Establishing a national educational technology forum for the proper use of technology in the domains of teaching, learning, assessment, administration and management systems and also focuses on maintaining virtual labs at various institutional and university levels.
• Challenges before Higher Education in India:
  • Ineffective Leadership:
    • Academic leadership entails integrative abilities of breaking departmental silos, aligning different disciplines, and managing multiple stakeholders.
    • Most faculty and researchers have individualistic traits whereas academic leadership calls for collaborative and transformative skills.
    • Academic excellence demands integrative skills across teaching, research and academic administration. But, chancellors/founders of universities and HR leaders who support them lack this ability.
  • Unsatisfactory Talent Sourcing of Faculty and Students:
    • Interviews for selection are often perfunctory, a mere 30 minutes for senior positions focusing only on the candidate’s past experience with no leading questions to assess their academic leadership qualities.
  • Poor Governance:
    • Governance is a casualty in most HEIs, as they ignore attributes such as participation, responsiveness, transparency, consensus and inclusivity.
    • Management of Indian education faces challenges of over-centralization, bureaucratic structures and lack of accountability, transparency, and professionalism.
  • Political Factor:
    • Political influence is also a bad thing and an issue with higher education. Governing bodies do not want any political influence or interference in their affairs.
    • The dominant political leaders, now play a key role in governing bodies of the Universities.
  • Investment in Building rather than People:
    • Unfortunately, promoters of most privately run HEIs invest in buildings, hardware and software rather than in people.
    • Little do they realize that students learn from inspiring teachers and not from buildings.

What needs to be done:

• Give Importance to Technology in Education:
  • India has to embrace computer and high-speed internet technology.
  • Our educational delivery mechanisms should take the wealth of human capital to the masses.
  • The models of brick-and-mortar schools, colleges and universities will have to be integrated and interlinked with ICT.
  • The Governments should invest more in technological infrastructure that will ease knowledge accessibility.
• Conductive HR Policies:
  • HR policies should be conducive to attracting talent and creating a leadership pipeline.
  • One of the important pillars in Deming’s Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy is “Constant training and retraining of teachers” to avoid burnout syndrome by adding ‘on the job skills.
• Encourage Innovation and Creativity:
  • The system should reward those who deserve the highest academic honour.
  • The crammers should not be rewarded.
  • Our testing and marking systems need to be built to recognize original contributions, creativity, problem solving and innovation.
  • Ranks should be awarded accordingly.
• Train the Trainers Continuously:
  • A teacher is an entrepreneur and creator. The performance of a teacher should not be restricted to the classroom.
  • It needs to be opened up for the world to see with the internet.
  • There have to be leaders in teaching positions, not salaried people holding their mantle.
  • Hence, regular training is a necessity.
• Change the Aptitude to Teach:
  • Teaching jobs are widely regarded as safe, well-paid and risk-free jobs. Most of the teachers do not want to change.
  • As they become experienced, they get septic and do not even think of the nature and needs of the students.
  • Understanding the present generation is a necessity. Guidelines should be made in this direction.
• Foreign Collaboration:
  • Government must promote collaboration between Indian higher education institutes and top international institutes.
  • Government must also generate linkages between national research laboratories and research centres of top institutions for better quality and collaborative research.

Way Forward:

• Higher per capita expenditure on higher education in some states has resulted in better GER.
• For example, the per capita expenditure of Goa is Rs 14,634 and the GER is 33.2 per cent.
• Global experience also suggests that higher public investment in education yields positive results, according to the mission document of RUSA.
• To reach and achieve future requirements there is an urgent need to relook at the Financial Resources, Access and Equity, Quality Standards, Relevance, and Infrastructure.

Source: The Hindu

Context

Recently, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has issued guidelines and specified new uplinking and downloading rules.

• Earlier, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) had issued an advisory stating that any kind of broadcasting be done only through Prasar Bharti.

What are the New Provisions?

• Obligation to Telecast Content in National/Public Interest:
  • Television channels will have to telecast content in the national interest or public service every day for 30 minutes.
  • Nonetheless, these obligations will not be applicable for sports, wildlife, and foreign channels.
• The themes of national importance include,
  • Education and spread of literacy
  • Agriculture and rural development,
  • Health and family welfare,
  • Science and technology,
  • Welfare of women
  • Welfare of the weaker sections of society
  • Protection of the environment and of cultural heritage and national integration.
• No prior Permission for Live Telecast of Events:
  • Requirement for seeking permission for live telecast of events has been done away with, only prior registration of events to be telecast live would be necessary,
  • No requirement of prior permission for change of language or conversion of mode of transmission from Standard Definition (SD) to High Definition (HD) or vice versa, only prior intimation would be required.
• Indian Teleports may Uplink Foreign Channels:
  • LLPs / companies would be allowed to uplink foreign channels from Indian teleports which would create employment opportunities and make India a Teleport-hub for other countries.
• Simplification and Rationalization:
  • Structure of the Guidelines has been systematized to avoid duplication and common parameters.
  • The penalty clauses have been rationalized and separate nature of penalties have been proposed for different types of contraventions as against uniform penalty at present.

Source: The Hindu

GS-III

Context

Valisure, a New Haven, Connecticut-based analytical laboratory, tested 148 batches from 34 brands of spray-on dry shampoo and found that 70% contained benzene.

About:

• Valisure has found benzene, the cancer-causing chemical in popular spray sunscreens, antiperspirants and hand sanitizers.
• The highest benzene levels among the dry shampoos were found in a popular brand called Not Your Mother’s.
• Other brands found to have elevated benzene included Batiste, Sun Bum, John Paul Mitchell Systems and Church & Dwight Co.’s Batiste.
• Dry shampoos are used to freshen up hair between washes.
• The benzene levels are significantly higher in dry shampoos than any personal-care products.
• Batiste, Not Your Mother’s and Dove are the top-selling dry shampoo brands in the US.
• Dry shampoo usage has increased by 22% from a year earlier.

Impact:

• Benzene is a known contaminant of petroleum products.
• Spray personal-care products, including dry shampoos, often contain propellants like propane and butane that are petroleum distillates made by refining crude oil.
• The propane and butane used in personal-care products are supposed to be purified so that no benzene is present.
• However, these propellants become a potential source of benzene contamination.
• These chemical can cause certain blood cancers, such as leukaemia.
• A spray from one can of dry shampoo contained 158 parts per million of benzene.
• The Environmental Protection Agency has said inhaling benzene at levels of 0.4 parts per billion (.0004 parts per million) chronically over a lifetime could result in one additional cancer per 100,000 people, a measure of risk the FDA also uses.
• Valisure determined it’s possible the actual benzene levels in spray-on dry shampoo could be 10 times to 50 times higher than what standard testing reveals.
• The supply chains that bring consumers their grooming products are complex, globe-spanning endeavours, making it difficult to determine precisely where the toxins are introduce.
• In drug applications, the FDA allows levels of 2 parts per million of benzene if “use is unavoidable”.
• But FDA hasn’t set benzene limits for cosmetics.
• However, it says the products shouldn’t contain “any poisonous or deleterious substance.”

About Benzene:

• Benzene is a colourless or light-yellow liquid chemical at room temperature.
• It is used primarily as a solvent in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as a starting material and an intermediate in the synthesis of numerous chemicals, and in gasoline.
• Benzene is produced by both natural and man-made processes.
• It is a natural component of crude oil, which is the main source of benzene produced today.
• Other natural sources include gas emissions from volcanoes and forest fires.
• Cigarette smoke is another source of benzene exposure.
• Benzene may also be found in glues, adhesives, cleaning products, and paint strippers.
• Outdoor air contains low levels of benzene from second-hand tobacco smoke, gasoline fumes, motor vehicle exhaust, and industrial emissions.

Source: Indian Express

Context

• A rare spectacle of a “Beaver blood moon” was seen as the Earth, moon and sun align to produce a total lunar eclipse for the last time until 2025.
• This was the second blood moon of the year.
• It was visible across eastern Asia & Australia (in evening moonrise), the Pacific and North America (in early morning hours)
• It will be visible to the naked eye wherever skies are clear in those regions.

About:

• A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow completely over a full moon, blocking reflection of all direct sunlight from the lunar orb and dimming the colour of the moon to a reddish hue, hence the term “blood moon.”
• This is only possible when the orbits of the Earth, moon and sun align so that the moon is directly behind Earth relative to the sun.
• Moon’s orbit around Earth is usually tilted relative to Earth’s orbit about the sun. Hence, the moon passes above or below Earth’s shadow because of its orbit.
• Outer shadow is called “penumbra,” and the darker, inner shadow is called the “umbra,” before reaching totality.
• Reddish appearance of the lunar surface is caused by rays of sunlight around the outer edge of the eclipse shadow, or umbra, being filtered and refracted as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere, bathing the moon indirectly in a dim copper glow.
• Degree of redness depends on atmospheric conditions that vary with levels of air pollution, dust storms, wildfire smoke and even volcanic ash.
• Rarity: Total lunar eclipses occur, on average, about once every year and a half, but the interval varies.
• Beaver moon: is a moniker for November’s full moon adopted by the Old Farmer’s Almanac supposedly from Algonquian languages once spoken by Native Americans in the New England territory. When combined with the phenomena of a total lunar eclipse, it is widely referred to as a “Beaver blood moon” in the United States.

Source: Indian Express

Context

Recently, the Union Minister of Jal Shakti released the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report for the entire country for the year 2022.

What are the Highlights of the Assessment?

• Findings:
  • The total annual ground water recharge is 437.60 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) and the annual ground water extraction is 239.16 BCM.
  • Assessment indicates an increase in ground water recharge.
  • By comparison, an assessment in 2020 found that the annual groundwater recharge was 436 bcm and extraction 245 bcm.
  • Groundwater Recharge is a (hydrologic) process where the water from the surface of the earth seeps downwards and gets collected in aquifers. So, the process is also known as deep drainage or deep percolation.
  • The 2022 assessment suggests that groundwater extraction is the lowest since 2004, when it was 231 bcm.
  • Further, out of the total 7089 assessment units in the country, 1006 units have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’.
  • About 87% of total annual groundwater extraction i.e., 208.49 bcm is for irrigation use. Only 30.69 bcm is for Domestic & Industrial use, which is about 13 % of the total extraction.
• State wise Groundwater Extraction:
  • The overall stage of groundwater extraction in the country is 60.08%.
  • The stage of ground water extraction is very high in the states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu where it is more than 100%.
  • In the states of Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and UTs of Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry, the stage of ground water extraction is between 60-100%.
  • In the rest of the states, the stage of ground water extraction is below 60 %.

What is the Status of Groundwater in India?

• About:
  • India is the largest user of groundwater with a fourth of the total global withdrawal. Indian cities cater to about 48% of its water supply from groundwater.
  • There are over 4,400 statutory towns and cities in India, with around 400 million residents, which will increase by up to 300 million by 2050.
• Issues with Groundwater Depletion:
  • The unmanaged groundwater and increasing population may result in seasonal water shortages by 2050 for an estimated 3.1 billion people and perpetual water shortage for almost a billion.
  • Further, water and food security will also be compromised and lead to poverty in the cities despite having good infrastructure development.

What are the Challenges with Management of Groundwater in India?

• Unregulated extraction
  • Groundwater, regarded as a “common pool resource”, has historically witnessed little control over its extraction.
  • Driven by a rising population, urbanisation and expansion of irrigation activities, groundwater extraction has been on the rise for several decades.
• Excessive Irrigation:
  • Groundwater irrigation popularised in the 1970s has led to socio-economic well-being, increased productivity and better livelihoods.
• Poor Knowledge of Groundwater Management Systems:
  • The mismatch in demand and supply at the local level represents a large part of the problem in India.
  • A growing population or rampant urban development are two examples of the reasons behind this phenomenon, but they may be less direct.
  • For example, better economic status of a population may assert more demand for water supply and distribution.
• Groundwater Pollution:
  • Water quality data obtained by the Central Ground Water Board(CGWB) shows that groundwater in as many as 154 districts across 21 states has arsenic contamination.
  • The quality is largely compromised on accounts of anthropogenic activities and geogenic sources.
  • This further raises the level of contamination as heavy metal concentration in the earth’s crust is higher than on the surface.
  • Additionally, surface water pollution also affects groundwater quality as pollutants at the water surface percolate through the layers of the land, contaminating groundwater, and may even alter the soil structure in case of oil leakages or spillage.
• Climate Change:
  • The cumulative effect of all the challenges mentioned above is intensified by the climate shocks experienced by the country.
  • The problems groundwater faces in India feeds into worsening the climate crisis, which further deepens the distress associated with groundwater availability.
  • Disturbances in the hydrological cycle causing long spells of floods and droughts adversely affect the quality and quantity of groundwater.
  • For example, flood events risk increased runoff of chemicals and biotic contaminants into groundwater.

What are the Initiatives Taken by the Government?

• Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal): It is a Rs. 6000 crore Central Sector Scheme with World Bank assistance, for sustainable management of ground water resources with community participation.
• Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA): It was launched in 2019 in 256 water stressed districts in the country to improve water availability including ground water conditions in these areas.
  • It has special emphasis on creation of recharge structures, rejuvenation of traditional water bodies, intensive afforestation etc.
• Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme: The CGWB has taken up Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme.
  • The program is aimed to delineate aquifer disposition and their characterization for preparation of aquifer/ area specific groundwater management plans with community participation.
• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT): The Mission focuses on development of basic urban infrastructure in the AMRUT cities, such as water supply, sewerage & septage management, storm water drainage, green spaces & parks, and non-motorized urban transport.

Way Forward

• Integrated Water Resource Management framework:
  • There is a need to focus on the Integrated Water Resource Management framework. It promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources.
• Adopting Water Sensitive Urban Design:
  • To begin with, adopting water-sensitive urban design and planning can help maintain the water cycle by managing groundwater, surface water and rainwater for water demand and supply.
• Provision for Water Recycle and Reuse:
  • Provision for wastewater recycle and its reuse to promote the circular economy of one water cycle will also help in source sustainability and groundwater pollution mitigation.
• Other Interventions:
  • Interventions like rainwater harvesting, stormwater harvesting, rain-garden and bio-retention ponds that intercept rainfall with vegetated land are low-maintenance alternatives to conventional systems. These help in groundwater recharge and urban flood mitigation.

Source: PIB

Context

Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) launches sonar systems test and evaluation facility for Indian Navy at Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) Kochi. 

About:              

• The facility is named as Hull Module of Submersible Platform for Acoustic Characterisation and Evaluation (SPACE).
• It is a state-of-the-art testing and evaluation facility for sonar systems developed for use by the Indian navy onboard various platforms, including ships, submarines and helicopters.
• The SPACE facility is based on the concept design and requirements projected by NPOL and has been constructed by M/s L&T Shipbuilding, Chennai.
• This will be mainly utilized for evaluating Sonar systems, allowing for quick deployment and easy recovery of scientific packages such as sensors and transducers.
• The SPACE is one-of-a-kind facility in the world. The uniqueness of this facility lies in the specially designed submersible platform, which can be lowered up to depths of 100 meters using a series of synchronously operated winches.
• The design and construction of the platform meet all the statutory needs of Indian Register of Shipping and the vessel classifying authority and strictly adhere to the inspection and registration criteria as per Kerala Inland Vessel Rules.
• This new facility has further boosted the Government of India’s ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives.

Source: PIB