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GS Paper: GS3

  • Amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980

    The Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has published proposed amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

    The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

    The FCA is the principal legislation that regulates deforestation in the country.

    • It prohibits the felling of forests for any “non-forestry” use without prior clearance by the central government.
    • The clearance process includes seeking consent from local forest rights-holders and from wildlife authorities.
    • The Centre is empowered to reject such requests or allow it with legally binding conditions.
    • In a landmark decision in 1996, the Supreme Court had expanded the coverage of FCA to all areas that satisfied the dictionary definition of a forest; earlier, only lands specifically notified as forests were protected by the enforcement of the FCA.

    The FCA is brief legislation with only five sections of which-

    • Section 1 defines the extent of coverage of the law,
    • Section 2 restrictions of activities in forest areas and the rest deals with the creation of advisory committees, powers of rule-making and penalties.

    Why is the Act being amended now?

    • The current definition of forests has locked land across the country; even private owners cannot utilise their own property for non-forestry purposes.
    • The pressure for forest land diversion has been coming from — Ministries such as Rail and Roads.
    • Under the Act, any diversion of any forest land for any purpose, including assignment of leases, needs prior approval of the Centre.

    What defines ‘Forest’ under this act?

    • Previously, the Act had applied largely to reserve forests and national parks.
    • In 1996, ruling in T N Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India Case, the Supreme Court had expanded the definition and scope of forest land.
    • It would thus include all areas recorded as forest in any government record, irrespective of ownership, recognition and classification.
    • The court also expanded the definition of forests to encompass the “dictionary meaning of forests”.
    • This would mean that a forested patch would automatically become a “deemed forest” even if it is not notified as protected, and irrespective of ownership.
    • The Act would also be applicable over plantations in non-forest land.

    What are the proposed amendments?

    (A) Exemptions for Road and Railways

    • The MoEFCC has proposed that all land acquired by the Railways and Roads Ministries prior to 1980 be exempted from the Act.
    • Once the lands had been acquired for expansion, but subsequently, forests have grown in these areas, and the government is no longer able to use the land for expansion.
    • The Ministries will no longer need clearance for their projects, nor pay compensatory levies to build there.

    (B) Relaxation

    • It distinguishes individuals whose lands fall within a state-specific Private Forests Act or comes within the dictionary meaning of forest as specified in the 1996 Supreme Court order.
    • The government proposes to allow the “construction of structures for bona fide purposes’’ including residential units up to 250 sq m as a one-time relaxation.

    (C) Defense and other projects

    • Defence projects near international borders will be exempted from forest clearance.
    • Oil and natural gas extraction from forested lands will be permitted, but only if technologies such as Extended Reach Drilling are used.
    • Strip plantations alongside roads that would fall under the Act will be exempted.

    What are the concerns?

    • Legalizing private ownership of forests: The rules will facilitate corporate ownership.
    • Deforestation: The exemption of forests on private land will lead to the disappearance of large tracts of forests.
    • Fragmentation: Exemption for private residences on private forest will lead to fragmentation of forests, and open areas such as the Aravalli mountains to real estate.
    • Tribal concerns: The amendments do not address what will happen to tribals and forest-dwelling communities over the cleared lands.
    • Threat to wildlife: Exemption for roads and railways on forest land acquired prior to 1980 will be detrimental to forests as well as wildlife – especially elephants, tigers and leopards.

    Positives with the amendment

    • It has proposed making forest laws more stringent for notified forests, making offences non-bailable with increased penalties including imprisonment of up to one year.
    • It has disallowed any kind of diversion in certain forests.
    • It has attempt to define and identify forests once and for all — something that has been often ambiguous.

     

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  • James Webb: The most powerful space telescope

    On Dec 18, 2021, after years of delays, the James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch into orbit and usher in the next era of astronomy.

    James Webb Space Telescope

    • JWST is a joint NASA–ESA–CSA space telescope that is planned to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA’s flagship astrophysics mission
    • It is the most powerful space telescope ever built.
    • It will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe,
    • It would help understand events such as the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.

    Its significance

    • Some have called JSWT the “telescope that ate astronomy.”
    • It is said to look back in time to the Dark Ages of the universe.

    What does the ‘Dark Ages’ of the universe mean?

    • Evidence shows that the universe started with an event called the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, which left it in an ultra-hot, ultra-dense state.
    • The universe immediately began expanding and cooling after the Big Bang.
    • One second after the Big Bang, the universe was a hundred trillion miles across with an average temperature of an incredible 18 billion F (10 billion C).
    • Around 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the universe was 10 million light-years across and the temperature had cooled to 5,500 F (3,000 C).
    • Throughout this time, space was filled with a smooth soup of high-energy particles, radiation, hydrogen and helium.
    • There was no structure. As the expanding universe became bigger and colder, the soup thinned out and everything faded to black.

    This was the start of what astronomers call the Dark Ages of the universe.

    How will JWST study this?

    Ans. Looking for the first light

    • The Dark Ages ended when gravity formed the first stars and galaxies that eventually began to emit the first light.
    • Astronomers aim to study this fascinating and important era of the universe, but detecting first light is incredibly challenging.
    • Compared to massive, bright galaxies of today, the first objects were very small and due to the constant expansion of the universe, they’re now tens of billions of light years away from Earth.
    • Also, the earliest stars were surrounded by gas left over from their formation and this gas acted like fog that absorbed most of the light.
    • It took several hundred million years for radiation to blast away the fog. This early light is very faint by the time it gets to Earth.

    Try this PYQ:

    Consider the following phenomena:

    1. Light is affected by gravity.
    2. The Universe is constantly expanding.
    3. Matter warps its surrounding space-time.

    Which of the above is/are the predictions of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, often discussed in media?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

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  • [pib] Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) for P&K Fertilizers

    The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for fixation of Nutrient Based Subsidy Rates for P&K Fertilizers for the year last quarter of the year 2021-22.

    An aspirant from rural agrarian background is quite habitual to hear about NPK 10-26-26, 20-20-0-13 & 12-32-16. They often get to find the plastic gunny bags mentioning this!

    Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS)

    • The NBS Scheme for fertilizer was initiated in the year 2010 and is being implemented by the Department of Fertilizers.
    • Under the scheme, a fixed amount of subsidy decided on an annual basis is provided on each grade of subsidized P&K fertilizers, except for Urea based on the nutrient content present in them.
    • It is largely for secondary nutrients like N, P, S and K and micronutrients which are very important for crop growth and development.
    • In India, urea is the only controlled fertilizer and is sold at a statutory notified uniform sale price.

    What is NPK?

    • So now that you know what the numbers on fertilizer mean, you need to know why NPK is important to your plants.
    • All plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to grow. Without enough of any one of these nutrients, a plant will fail.
    1. Nitrogen (N): It is largely responsible for the growth of leaves on the plant.
    2. Phosphorus (P): It is largely responsible for root growth and flower and fruit development.
    3. Potassium (K): It is a nutrient that helps the overall functions of the plant perform correctly.
    • Knowing the NPK values of fertilizer can help you select one that is appropriate for the type of plant you are growing.

    What NBS provides?

    • Fixing MRP of NPK fertilizers: The scheme allows the manufacturers, marketers, and importers to fix the MRP of the Phosphatic and Potash fertilizers at reasonable levels.
    • Maintaining stock level: The MRP will be decided considering the domestic and international prices of P&K fertilizers, inventory level in the country and the exchange rates.
    • Inflation control: The NBS ensures that an adequate quantity of P&K is made available to the farmers at a statutory controlled price.

    Issues with NBS

    • Leaves urea: Urea which the most widely used, is left-out in the scheme and hence it remains under price control as NBS has been implemented only in other fertilizers.
    • Cost on exchequer: Fertilizer subsidy is the second-biggest subsidy after food subsidy.
    • Costs on Economy and Environment: The NBS policy is not only damaging the fiscal health of the economy but also proving detrimental to the soil health of the country.
    • Black marketing: Subsidised fertilizers is getting diverted to bulk buyers/traders or even non-agricultural users such as plywood and animal feed makers.

    Back2Basics: Soil Health Card (SHC)

    • Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme is promoted by the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
    • An SHC is meant to give each farmer soil nutrient status of his/her holding and advice him/her on the dosage of fertilizers and also the needed soil amendments, that s/he should apply to maintain soil health in the long run.
    • SHC is a printed report that a farmer will be handed over for each of his holdings.
    • It will be made available once in a cycle of 2 years, which will indicate the status of soil health of a farmer’s holding for that particular period.
    • The SHC given in the next cycle of 2 years will be able to record the changes in the soil health for that subsequent period.

    Parameters of SHC:

    • N, P, K (Macro-nutrients)
    • Sulfur (S) (Secondary- nutrient)
    • Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micronutrients)
    • pH, EC (Electrical conductivity) , OC (Organic content)

    Try this PYQ:

    The nation-wide ‘Soil Health Card Scheme’ aims at:

    1. expanding the cultivable area under irrigation.
    2. enabling the banks to assess the quantum of loans to be granted to farmers on the basis of soil quality.
    3. checking the overuse of fertilizers in farmlands.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

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  • RBI’s monetary policy statement

    Context

    The Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI kept the benchmark policy rates unchanged, and retained the accommodative stance in its October review.

    Factors playing part in monetary policy decisions

    • It’s important to remember that monetary policy these days is influenced by both local macroeconomic developments and the global monetary policy direction, with the former playing a dominant role.
    • Locally, after the second wave of the pandemic, a variety of indicators such as the Purchasing Managers Index (manufacturing and services), mobility indicators, government tax collections, exports and imports are pointing at an improvement in economic activity.
    • Then there is the good news on the monsoon front. With a late pick-up in rains, the cumulative deficiency in this monsoon season has come down to just 1 per cent of the long-period average (LPA).
    • Since the MPC’s August 2021 policy review, Covid-19 cases have trended down and there has been admirable progress on the vaccination front.
    • Also, despite high year-on-year growth numbers, the level of economic activity this fiscal will only be 1.5 per cent above 2019-2020.

    Trends emerging from the economic recovery

    • Role of government: Capital expenditure of both the Centre and states is on track to meet the budgetary commitment, supported by healthy tax collections.
    • Large companies on recovery path: Large companies in industrial sectors such as steel, cement, non-ferrous metals are operating at healthy utilisation levels, and have deleveraged their balance sheets.
    • Policy support for smaller companies: The going is not so good for the smaller ones.
    • Clearly, smaller companies need policy support. The extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme is a recognition of that.
    • Private consumption is not broad-based either.
    • Even in goods consumption, which is faring better than services, the nature of demand seems skewed towards relatively higher-value items such as cars and utility vehicles.
    • This probably reflects the income dichotomy spawned by the pandemic.
    • Inflation: Its fall to 5.3 per cent in August offers only limited comfort for two reasons.
    • One, core and fuel inflation, which have 54 per cent weightage in CPI, remain stubbornly high.
    • Second, food prices have nudged down overall inflation.
    • Domestic growth-inflation dynamics suggest that the RBI has little option but to remain more tolerant of persistent price pressures, and hope that these will eventually prove transitory because they have been primarily driven by supply shocks caused by the pandemic.

    Global monetary policy environment

    • Globally, the monetary policy environment is veering towards normalisation/tapering/interest-rate rise largely due to an upward surprise in inflation, or because some central banks feel the objectives of quantitative easing have been met.
    • Central banks in advanced economies such as Norway, Korea and New Zealand have recently raised rates.
    • The two systemically important central banks — the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) — view the current spike in inflation as fleeting and have communicated greater tolerance for it for a longer period.

    Conclusion

    The process of mopping up excess liquidity will slowly gain pace over the next few months, followed by a policy rate hike sometime around early 2022. By then, there should be enough clarity on the third wave and the stance of the Fed and the ECB.

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  • Economics Nobel for Natural Experiments

    The 2021 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to three US-based economists.

    Do you know?

    The Nobel Prize is officially called as Sveriges Riksbank Prize!

    Who are the awardees?

    • Nobel Committee awarded half the Prize to David Card for his “empirical contributions to labour economics”
    • Other half to Guido Imbens and Joshua Angrist “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships”

    What makes this year’s award special?

    • This is the first time the economic prize has been divided in this fashion with one half going to one awardee and other half divided across two awardees.
    • In the past, prize money was divided equally between the awardees even if the prize was for different topics as is the case this time around.
    • It may appear that the Nobel Prize has been given for two different contributions, but there is a common theme: “natural experiments.”

    What are Natural Experiments?

    • Economists are often interested in causal questions such as the impact of education on incomes, impact of COVID-19 on poverty and so on.
    • They are also interested is understanding the direction of causality.
    • Economists have used two kinds of experiments to study these causality and direction of causality questions: random experiments and natural experiments.

    (I) Random experiments

    • Under randomized experiments, the researchers allocate say medicines to a treatment group and compare the effect of the medicine with the control group which is not given the medicine.
    • In 2019, the Nobel Committee gave awards to three scholars for their contribution to the field of randomized experiments.
    • However, one cannot randomize experiments to study issues such as why certain people and regions are more unequal or have fewer educational opportunities and so on.

    (II) Natural experiments

    • In natural experiments, economists study a policy change or a historical event and try to determine the cause and effect relationship to explain these developments.
    • The trio used such natural experiments to make some landmark contributions to economic development.
    • Natural experiments are more difficult for two reasons. The first is to identify what will serve as a natural experiment.
    • Second, in a random experiment, the researcher knows and controls the treatment and control groups which allows them to study the cause and effect of medicine.
    • But in natural experiments, such clear differentiation is not possible because people choose their groups on their own and even move between the two groups.
    • Despite the limitations, the researchers could use the natural setting to answer some big policy questions.

    Natural experiments conducted by David Card

    • One question of interest for policymakers is to understand the impact of higher minimum wages on employment.
    • Earlier studies showed that increasing minimum wages leads to lower unemployment.
    • Economists were also not sure of the direction of causation between minimum wages and employment.
    • Say a slowdown in the economy leads to higher unemployment amid lower income groups.
    • This could lead to lower income groups demanding higher minimum wages. In such a case, it is higher unemployment which leads higher minimum wages.

    Contribution of Angrist and Imbens

    • Angrist and Imbens showed how natural experiments can be used to identify cause and effect precisely.
    • We have discussed above how natural experiments make it difficult to separate control and treatment groups. This makes it difficult to establish causal relations.
    • In the 1990s, the duo developed a methodology – Local Average Treatment Effect (or LATE) – which uses a two-step process to help grapple with these problems of natural experiments.
    • Say, one is interested in finding the impact of an additional year of schooling on the incomes of people.
    • By using the LATE approach, they showed that effect on income of an additional year of education is around 9%.
    • While it may not be possible to determine individuals in the group, one can estimate the size of the impact.

    What is the importance of the award today?

    • Earlier it was difficult to identify natural experiments and even if one identified them, it was difficult to generate data from these experiments.
    • With increased digitalization and dissemination of archival records, it has not just become easier to identify natural experiments but also get data.
    • Economists have been using natural experiments to help us understand the impact of past policies.
    • As the 2020 pandemic struck, economists used the natural experiments approach extensively to analyse how previous pandemics impacted different regions and tried to draw policy lessons.

    India context

    • The methodology date back to the early and mid-90s and they have already had a tremendous influence on the research undertaken in several developing countries such as India.
    • For instance, in India, too, it is commonly held that higher minimum wages will be counterproductive for workers.
    • It is noteworthy that last year, in the wake of the Covid-induced lockdowns, several states, including UP, had summarily suspended several labour laws.
    • This included the ones regulating minimum wages, arguing that such a move will boost employment.
    • The main learning is that minimum wages can be increased in India without worrying about reducing employment.

     

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  • [pib] Indian Space Association

    The PM has launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA), an industry body consisting of various stakeholders of the Indian space domain.

    Indian Space Association (ISpA)

    • The ISpA is a premier industry association of space and satellite companies, which aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian space industry.
    • It will be headed by retired Lieutenant General AK Bhatt, who will be its Director General.
    • It will target to undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian space domain. It will engage with the government and all its agencies.

    Why is the formation of ISpA significant?

    • Million-dollar industry: Governments across the world have poured millions of dollars to push the envelope in term of exploring the edges of the space.
    • Collaborated research: With time, governments and government agencies collaborated to explore newer planets and galaxies in search of life forms that exist outside Earth.
    • Private players involvement: In the recent past, private sector companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have taken the lead in spaceflight.
    • Easing workload on ISRO: Though India too has made significant strides in space exploration over time, state-run ISRO has been at the centre and front of this progress.

    What does ISpA aim to achieve?

    • Supplementing space research: One of the main goals of the organisation is to supplement the government’s efforts towards making India a global leader in commercial space-based excursions.
    • Commercial space exploration: ISpA said it would engage with stakeholders across the ecosystem for the formulation of an enabling policy framework which fulfills the government vision of leading commercial space exploration.
    • Establishing global linkages: ISpA will also work towards building global linkages for the Indian space industry to bring in critical technology and investments into the country to create more high skill jobs.

    Who are the stakeholders in this organisation? How will they contribute?

    • ISpA will be represented by leading domestic and global corporations that have advanced capabilities in space and satellite technologies.
    • It has taken off with several Indian and international companies betting on it as the next frontier to provide high-speed and affordable Internet connectivity to inaccessible areas as well.
    • This includes SpaceX’s StarLink, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s OneWeb, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, US satellite maker Hughes Communications, etc.
    • OneWeb, for example, is building its initial constellation of 648 low-earth orbit satellites and has already put 322 satellites into orbit.

    Why is satellite-based Internet important in India?

    • The expansion of the Internet in India is crucial to the Modi government’s dream of a digital India where a majority of government services are delivered directly to the customer.
    • The government aims to connect all villages and gram panchayats with high-speed Internet over the next 1000 days through BharatNet.
    • However, internet connectivity in hilly areas and far-flung places of Northeast India are still a challenge.
    • To overcome this, industry experts suggest that satellite Internet will be essential for broadband inclusion in remote areas and sparsely populated locations where terrestrial networks have not reached.
    • Satellite communications remain limited to use by corporates and institutions that use it for emergency use, critical trans-continental communications and for connecting to remote areas with no connectivity.

     

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  • Species in news: Dhole or Asiatic Wild Dog

    A recent study has identified some priority talukas/tehsils where habitats can be consolidated to enhance population connectivity for the dhole or Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus).

    About Dhole

    Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule II (Absolute protection – offences under these are prescribed the highest penalties.)

    IUCN: Endangered

    • The dhole is a canid native to Central, South, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
    • India perhaps supports the largest number of dholes, with key populations found in three landscapes — Western Ghats, Central India and Northeast India.
    • It is a highly social animal, living in large clans without rigid dominance hierarchies and containing multiple breeding females.

    Their significance

    • Dholes play an important role as apex predators in forest ecosystems.
    • Factors contributing to this decline include habitat loss, loss of prey, competition with other species, persecution due to livestock predation and disease transfer from domestic dogs.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Which one of the following groups of animals belongs to the category of endangered species?

    (a) Great Indian Bustard, Musk Deer, Red Panda, Asiatic Wild Ass

    (b) Kashmir Stag, Cheetah, Blue Bull, Great Indian Bustard.

    (c) Snow Leopard, Swamp Deer, Rhesus Monkey, Saras (Crane)

    (d) Lion Tailed Macaque, Blue Bull, Hanuman Langur, Cheetah

     

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  • WTO raises 2021 goods trade outlook

    The World Trade Organization (WTO) has upgraded its world merchandise trade growth outlook to nearly 11 percent for this year, higher than 8% estimated in March.

    About WTO

    • The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade between nations.
    • Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade.
    • It officially commenced operations on 1 January 1995, pursuant to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement, thus replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been established in 1948.
    • The WTO is the world’s largest international economic organization, with 164 member states representing over 96% of global trade and global GDP.
    • The WTO facilitates trade in goods, services and intellectual property among participating countries.
    • It prohibits discrimination between trading partners, but provides exceptions for environmental protection, national security, and other important goals.

    Report on Global trade

    • According to a WTO, global goods trade is expected to grow by 10.8 per cent compared to the forecast of 8 per cent in March, but with varied recovery, depending on the region.
    • The report said export volume growth in 2021 will be 8.7 per cent in North America, 7.2 per cent in South America, 9.7 per cent in Europe, 7 per cent in Africa, 5 per cent in West Asia and the highest for Asia at 14.4 per cent.
    • On the other hand, imports are expected to grow at a faster pace as compared to exports. Inbound shipments into North America are set to grow by 12.6 per cent.
    • It will be 19.9 per cent in South America, 9.1 per cent in Europe, 13.1 per cent in CIS, 11.3 per cent in Africa, 9.3 per cent in West Asia and 10.7 per cent in Asia.

    Key highlights for India

    • Exports from India have been rising consistently over the last few quarters, after plummeting for a few months as the outbreak of Covid-19 disrupted global trade.
    • India’s exports to its top trading partners such as the US, European Union, nations in West Asia, among others, are expected to rise.
    • Exports data during the first six months of the current fiscal year is emblematic of the fact that external demand has been robust.
    • Besides, supply-side disruptions can also be exacerbated by the rapid and unexpectedly strong recovery of demand in advanced and many emerging economies.

    Competing with China

    • Experts said with rising global demand, India should be able to compete in various segments vis-a-vis China.
    • Currently, China is facing supply-side as well as demand-side issues owing to several internal challenges (energy, debt crisis).
    • Therefore, India is in a good position to increase its exports, and can become a substitute for China across various product categories or sectors.
    • India can take advantage of the increasing global demand, which can ultimately translate into demand for Indian exports.

     

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  • Using Paddy Straw as Cattle Feed

    Punjab has now proposed to use the paddy crop residue as fodder for animals, especially cattle.

    Why such a move?

    • In Punjab, the total availability of paddy straw is about 20 million tones per annum.
    • The total value of this straw is Rs 400 crore approx., calculated on an average rate of Rs 200/quintal. Almost all of it is burnt in fields.
    • This accounts for economic loss apart from the loss of 77,000 tonnes of nitrogen and 5.6 million tonnes of Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) which could be used for ruminant production.
    • Also nearly 30.4 per cent of rice straw is used for animal feed in Southeast Asia, Mongolia and China.

    Economics behind paddy straw

    • High silica and lignin content reduces its digestive properties.
    • Higher selenium content in paddy straw also limits its use as fodder in animals as compared to wheat straw.
    • However, if given in moderate quantities (up to 5 kg per animal per day), selenium poses no health hazard to the animal.
    • Paddy straw also contains oxalates (2-2.5%) which leads to calcium deficiency so mineral mixture should always be fed along with the straw.

    Treatments for feeding paddy straw to animals

    • Paddy Straw cannot be directly fed to animals. It has to undergo some treatments.
    • Two of them are: Urea-only treatment and urea plus molasses treatment.

    [A] Urea treatment of paddy straw

    • 14 kg of urea is dissolved in 200 litres water and spray on chopped paddy straw.
    • The fermented straws have soft texture with 6.0-8.0 per cent crude protein, 3.0-4.0 percent DCP and 55-60 per cent TDN.
    • This involves a combination of physical, chemical and biological treatments.
    • The paddy straw is chaffed and moistened (physical) with urea solution (chemical).
    • The breakdown of urea release ammonia gas, a part of which is utilised by microbes (biological) for their proliferation (enriching the straw with microbial protein).
    • This in turn results in breakage of lingo-cellulosic bonds making cellulose and hemi-cellulose assessable for utilization by microbes in the rumen.
    • The digestibility of cellulose increases from 40-45% in untreated paddy straw to 70-75 per cent in fermented wheat straw.

    [B] Urea plus molasses treatment

    • Also called “Urea-Molasses impregnated straw”, this method involves treating paddy straw with urea and molasses.
    • Urea 1 kg and molasses 3 kg was mixed thoroughly and mixed with water 10 kg. This is mixed with chaffed paddy straw and fed to animals on same day.
    • The experts however clarify that for maintenance of body weight in animals, paddy straw alone is not sufficient.
    • Minerals and green fodder supplementation is required.

    How does the nutritional value of paddy straw increase after urea treatment?

    • The TDN values in urea treated paddy straw increased manifold as compared to untreated straw.
    • Crude protein (CP) increased from 4.5% to 8%, digestible crude protein (DCP) from 1.5% to 4% and total digestible nutrients (TDN) from 40% to 55%.
    • The feeding of urea treated straw (6 kg/day) to lactating buffaloes giving about 10 kg milk/day can result in saving about 60 per cent of oilseed cake in the ration.
    • Feeding of paddy straw should be mixed with berseem, cowpea or Lucerne as it forms a maintenance ration.
    • The straw should be fed with concentrate mixture and additional DCP or limestone should be given to the animals to reduce the effect of oxalates.
    • Oxalates also interfere in carbohydrate metabolism perhaps due to non-availability of calcium as cofactor.

    What are the potentially harmful effects?

    • The intake of siliceous forages has been associated with urinary siliceous calculi in drier regions where water may be limited.
    • There have been no definitive studies in India, but urinary calculi are associated with rice straw consumption.
    • It has high selenium (0.5 to 4.5 % ) content which can cause serious health problems in dairy animals.

     

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  • Indian meteorite helps study Earth’s formation

    The researchers from the Geological Survey of India collected about 30 meteorite fragments with the largest weighing around a kilogram near the town of Katol in Nagpur in 2012.

    Significance of meteor study

    • Now, by studying the composition of these meteorite fragments, researchers have unraveled the composition expected to be present in the Earth’s lower mantle which is at about 660 km deep.
    • Studying the meteorite could also tell us more about how our Earth evolved from being a magma ocean to a rocky planet.

    Key component of the Meteor: Olivine

    • Initial studies revealed that the host rock was mainly composed of olivine, an olive-green mineral.
    • Olivine is the most abundant phase in our Earth’s upper mantle.
    • Our Earth is composed of different layers including the outer crust, followed by the mantle and then the inner core.

    How to study a meteorite?

    • The researchers took a small sample of the meteorite and examined it using special microscopy techniques.
    • The mineralogy was determined using a laser micro-Raman spectrometer.
    • These techniques helped the team identify, characterise the crystal structure of the meteorite and determine its chemical composition and texture.

    What does the new study show?

    • The international team of scientists examined a section of this highly-shocked meteorite. It resembles to the first natural occurrence of a mineral called bridgmanite.
    • The mineral was named in 2014 after Prof. Percy W. Bridgman, recipient of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics.
    • Various computational and experimental studies have shown that about 80% of the Earth’s lower mantle is made up of bridgmanite.
    • By studying this meteorite sample, scientists can decode how bridgmanite crystallized during the final stages of our Earth’s formation.

    Bridgmanite: On Earth vs. on Meteorite

    • Katol meteorite is a unique sample and it is a significant discovery.
    • The bridgmanite in the meteorite was found to be formed at pressures of about 23 to 25 gigapascals generated by the shock event.
    • The high temperature and pressure in our Earth’s interior have changed over billions of years causing crystallisation, melting, remelting of the different minerals before they reached their current state.
    • It is important to study these individual minerals to get a thorough idea of how and when the Earth’s layers formed.

    How does it help understand evolution of Earth?

    • The inner planets or terrestrial planets or rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are formed by accretion or by rocky pieces coming together.
    • They were formed as a planet by increased pressure and high temperature caused by radioactive elements and gravitational forces.
    • Our Earth was an ocean of magma before the elements crystallised and stabilised and the different layers such as core, mantle were formed.
    • The heavier elements like iron went to the core while the lighter silicates stayed in the mantle.
    • By using the meteorite as an analog for Earth, we can unearth more details about the formation.

    Answer this question from our AWE initiative:

    What are seismic waves? How have they helped in understanding the structure of the earth? (250 W/ 15 M)

     

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