💥Mains Ready By December. Smash Mains & Smash PYQ Admissions Open
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

GS Paper: GS3

  • Polar-Areas Stellar-Imaging in Polarisation High-Accuracy Experiment (PASIPHAE)

    The development of a vital instrument PASIPHAE, which will be used in upcoming sky surveys to study stars, is being led by an Indian astronomer.

    What is PASIPHAE?

    • PASIPHAE stands for Polar-Areas Stellar-Imaging in Polarisation High-Accuracy Experiment.
    • It is an international collaborative sky surveying project. Scientists aim to study the polarisation in the light coming from millions of stars.
    • The name is inspired by Pasiphae, the daughter of Greek Sun God Helios.
    • The survey will use two high-tech optical polarimeters to observe the northern and southern skies, simultaneously.
    • It will focus on capturing starlight polarisation of very faint stars that are so far away that polarisation signals from there have not been systematically studied.
    • By combining the data, astronomers will perform a maiden magnetic field tomography mapping of the interstellar medium of very large areas of the sky using a novel polarimeter instrument known as WALOP.

    Why is PASIPHAE important?

    • Since its birth about 14 billion years ago, the universe has been constantly expanding, as evidenced by the presence of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation which fills the universe.
    • Immediately after its birth, the universe went through a short inflationary phase during which it expanded at a very high rate before it slowed down and reached the current rate.
    • However, so far, there have only been theories and indirect evidence of expansion associated with the early universe.
    • A definitive consequence of the inflationary phase is that a tiny fraction of the CMB radiation should have its imprints in the form of a specific kind of polarisation (known scientifically as a B-mode signal).
    • All previous attempts to detect this signal met with failure mainly due to the difficulty posed by our galaxy, the Milky Way, which emits copious amounts of polarized radiation.
    • Besides, it contains a lot of dust clouds that are present in the form of clusters. When starlight passes through these dust clouds, they get scattered and polarized.

    What will PASIPHAE do?

    • The PASIPHAE survey will measure starlight polarisation over large areas of the sky.
    • This data along with distances to the stars will help create a 3-Dimensional model of the distribution of the dust and magnetic field structure of the galaxy.
    • Such data can help remove the galactic polarized foreground light and enable astronomers to look for the elusive B-mode signal.

    What is WALOP?

    • Wide Area Linear Optical Polarimeter (WALOP) is an instrument when mounted on two small optical telescopes, that will be used to detect polarized light signals emerging from the stars along high galactic latitudes.
    • The images will simultaneously have the finest of details of a star along with its panoramic background.
    • WALOP will operate on the principle that at any given time, the data from a portion of the sky under observation will be split into four different channels.
    • Depending on the manner in which light passes through the four channels, the polarisation value from the star is obtained.
    • That is, each star will have four corresponding images which when stitched together will help calculate the desired polarisation value of a star.

  • Operation Olivia to protect Olive Ridley Turtles

    Every year, the Indian Coast Guard’s “Operation Olivia”, initiated in the early 1980s, helps protect Olive Ridley turtles as they congregate along the Odisha coast for breeding and nesting from November to December.

    Answer this question from CSP 2012 in the comment box:

    Q.Which one of the following is the national aquatic animal of India?

    (a) Saltwater crocodile

    (b) Olive ridley turtle

    (c) Gangetic dolphin

    (d) Gharial

    Olive Ridley Turtles

    • The Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) is listed as vulnerable under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red list.
    • All five species of sea turtles found in India are included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and in the Appendix I of the CITES, which prohibits trade in turtle products by signatory countries.
    • Odisha has also formulated laws for protecting Olive Ridley turtles, and the Orissa Marine Fisheries Act empowers the Coast Guard as one of its enforcement agencies.
    • Studies have found three main factors that damage Olive Ridley turtles and their eggs — heavy predation of eggs by dogs and wild animals, indiscriminate fishing with trawlers and gill nets, and beach soil erosion.
    • Dense fishing activity along the coasts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal, especially ocean-going trawlers, mechanized fishing boats, and gill-netters pose a severe threat to turtles.

    Their habitats

    • The Olive Ridley has one of the most extraordinary nesting habits in the natural world, including mass nesting called arribadas.
    • The 480-km-long Odisha coast has three arribada beaches at Gahirmatha, the mouth of the Devi river, and in Rushikulya, where about 1 lakh nests are found annually.
    • They generally return to their natal beach, or where they were born, to lay eggs as adults.
    • Mating occurs in the offshore waters of the breeding grounds and females then come ashore to nest, usually several times during a season.
    • They crawl ashore, dig a flask-shaped nest about 1.5 to 2 foot deep, and lay 100 to 150 eggs in each clutch.
    • Hatchlings emerge from their nests together in about seven to 10 weeks.

  • Species in news: Bharitalasuchus Tapani

    In the mid 20th century, researchers from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, carried out extensive studies on rocks of the Yerrapalli Formation in what is now Telangana, uncovering several fossils of Bharitalasuchus Tapani.

    Bharitalasuchus Tapani

    • This reptile belongs to a genus and species previously unknown to science. It is named Bharitalasuchus tapani considering Telugu etymology.
    • In the Telugu language, Bhari means huge, Tala means head, and Suchus is the name of the Egyptian crocodile-headed deity.
    • The species is named after paleontologist Tapan Roy Chowdhury in honour of his contribution to Indian vertebrate paleontology and especially his extensive work on the Yerrapalli Formation tetrapod fauna.

    Details of the reptile

    • The reptile belonged to a family of extinct reptiles named Erythrosuchidae.
    • A precise identification had not been possible earlier because the family was not known from other examples in India.
    • It was neglected because the fossil specimen was not as complete as those of other erythrosuchids from other countries.
    • The team notes that tapani were robust animals with big heads and large teeth, and these probably predated other smaller reptiles.
    • They were approximately the size of an adult male lion and might have been the largest predators in their ecosystems.

  • Species in news: Pyrostria Laljii

    A 15-meter-tall tree that belongs to the genus of the coffee family has recently been discovered from the Andaman Islands by a team of researchers from India and the Philippines.

    Observe this PYQ from CSP 2016:

    Q.Recently, our scientists have discovered a new and distinct species of banana plant which attains a height of about 11 metres and has orange-coloured fruit pulp. In which part of India has it been discovered?

    (a) Andaman Islands

    (b) Anamalai Forests

    (c) Maikala Hills

    (d) Tropical rain forests of northeast

    Pyrostria Laljii

    • The new species, Pyrostria laljii, is also the first record of the genus Pyrostria in India.
    • Plants belonging to the genus Pyrostria are usually found in Madagascar but the recently discovered species is new to science.
    • The tree is distinguished by a long stem with a whitish coating on the trunk, and oblong-obovate leaves with a cuneate base, and was first reported from South Andaman’s Wandoor forest.
    • Pyrostria laljii has been assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List criteria.

  • Protection of ‘Heritage Trees’ in Maharashtra

    The Maharashtra government will make amendments to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act of 1975, to introduce provisions for the protection of ‘heritage trees’.

    What are Heritage Trees?

    • Under the proposed amendment, a tree with an estimated age of 50 years or more shall be defined as a heritage tree.
    • It may belong to specific species, which will be notified from time to time.
    • Experts believe that in addition to the age, the state climate change department should also consider a tree’s rarity, its botanical, historical, religious, mythological and cultural importance in defining a heritage tree.
    • The local Tree Authority will have to ensure tree census to be carried out every five years along with counting of heritage trees

    How is the age of the tree determined?

    • The most common method of determining the age of the tree is Dendrochronology – or tree-ring dating also called growth rings.
    • Each year, roughly a tree adds to its girth, the new growth is called a tree ring. By counting the rings of a tree, the age can be determined.
    • However, the process is invasive. To analyse the rings, core samples are extracted using a borer that’s screwed into the tree and pulled out, bringing with it a straw-size sample of wood.
    • The hole in the tree is then sealed to prevent disease.

    Why was the concept of heritage tree introduced?

    • A heritage tree will get special protection.
    • Crucially, the tree’s age will determine the number of trees to be planted as part of the compensatory plantation – that is anyone cutting a heritage tree will need to plant trees in the same numbers as the cut tree’s age.
    • According to the current Compensatory Plantation in the state, one sapling has to be planted for each tree that is cut.
    • In Mumbai, as per the Tree Authority set up in 1976, to help in regulating the felling of trees and providing for the planting of an adequate number of new trees, the compensation ratios are 1:3.

    Changes with the amendment

    • As per the amendment, the number of trees planted will be equal to the age of the heritage tree that is cut.
    • For instance, if a 52-year-old tree is to be felled, then the party felling the tree will have to plant 52 trees in compensation, with each compensatory tree at least 6-8 ft in height at the time of planting.
    • The organization planting the compensation trees will also have to ensure the survival of the plantation for seven years and geo-tag the trees.
    • Such plantations can be carried out either in the same plot or a common amenity plot.
    • Through the introduction of a heritage tree, the state environment wants to discourage the cutting of heritage trees.
    • The amendment has the fine for illegal felling of trees from a maximum of Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh per tree.

    What is the economic value of the tree?

    • In case compensatory plantation is not possible, the tree feller has to pay compensation for the economic valuation of the trees being felled.
    • While the state government has not defined the economic value of the tree, experts say that the amount of oxygen that a tree releases into the environment should determine its economic value.
    • A realistic assessment of the economic value of a tree, which may be permitted to fell, concerning its value to the environment and its longevity, about factors such as:

    the production of oxygen and carbon sequestration, soil conservation, protection of flora/fauna, its role in habitat and ecosystem integrity and any other ecologically relevant factor, distinct from timber/wood

    Tree Authority formation

    • The amendments also make room for the formation of the Maharashtra State Tree Authority and also tree authority in local civic bodies and councils.
    • The Tree Authority is tasked with “increasing the tree cover in urban areas and protecting the existing ones.” Experts shall be a part of the local tree authority.
    • Their knowledge and expertise will form the basis of decisions taken up by the authority.
    • A proposal to cut more than 200 trees of age 5 years or more, will be referred to the state tree authority.
    • The local TA will have to ensure that the project is not sub-divided into smaller parts to keep the number of trees below the defined threshold.
    • Ensure preparation of a tree plan and should aspire over the years to have 33 percent green belt in their area.

  • EnVision Mission to Venus

    Following NASA’s footsteps, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it has selected EnVision as its next orbiter that will visit Venus sometime in the 2030s.

    Last week, NASA selected two missions to the planet Venus, Earth’s nearest neighbour. The missions called DAVINCI+ and VERITAS have been selected based on their potential for scientific value and the feasibility of their development plans.

    What is EnVision?

    • EnVision is an ESA-led mission with contributions from NASA. It is likely to be launched sometime in the 2030s.
    • The earliest launch opportunity for EnVision is 2031, followed by 2032 and 2033.
    • Once launched on an Ariane 6 rocket, the spacecraft will take about 15 months to reach Venus and will take 16 more months to achieve orbit circularization.
    • The spacecraft will carry a range of instruments to study the planet’s atmosphere and surface, monitor trace gases in the atmosphere and analyses its surface composition.

    What are other such missions?

    • EnVision will follow another ESA-led mission to Venus called ‘Venus Express’ (2005-2014) that focused on atmospheric research and pointed to volcanic hotspots on the planet’s surface.
    • Other than this, Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft has also been studying the planet’s atmosphere since 2015.

    Why are scientists interested in studying Venus?

    • At the core of the ESA’s mission is the question of how Earth and Venus evolved so differently from each other considering that they are roughly of the same size and composition.
    • Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system because of the heat that is trapped by its thick cloud cover.
    • Last year, a team of scientists reported that they had found phosphine gas (a chemical produced only through biological processes) in the atmosphere of Venus.
    • This triggered excitement in the scientific community that some life forms might be supported by the planet.
    • But the existence of life on the planet is nearly impossible given the high temperatures of Venus and its acidic atmosphere.

    Back2Basics: Venus Planet

    • For those on Earth, Venus is the second-brightest object in the sky after the moon.
    • It appears bright because of its thick cloud cover that reflects and scatters light.
    • But while Venus, which is the second closest planet to the Sun, is called the Earth’s twin because of their similar sizes, the two planets have significant differences between them.
    • For one, the planet’s thick atmosphere traps heat and is the reason that it is the hottest planet in the solar system, despite coming after Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun.
    • Surface temperatures on Venus can go up to 471 degrees Celsius, which is hot enough to melt lead.
    • Further, Venus moves forward on its orbit around the Sun but spins backwards around its axis slowly.
    • This means on Venus the Sun rises in the west and sets in the East.
    • One day on Venus is equivalent to 243 Earth days because of its backward spinning, opposite to that of the Earth’s and most other planets.
    • Venus also does not have a moon and no rings.

  • What is Fastly Internet Outage?

    Several big websites around the world went down for about half an hour because of a major issue with the content delivery network (CDN) of American cloud computing services provider Fastly.

    Global internet outage: Which websites were affected?

    • com, Reddit, Twitch, Spotify, Pinterest, Stack Overflow, GitHub, gov.uk, Hulu, HBO Max, Quora, PayPal, Vimeo and Shopify are some of the big names.
    • Prominent news websites impacted were the Financial Times, the Guardian, the New York Times, CNN, and Verge, to name some.
    • Most users would have seen a 503 error when trying to access these websites, indicating that the browser was not able to access the server.

    What is Fastly?

    • Fastly is a cloud computing services provider, which offers CDN, edge computing, cloud storage services.
    • All of its geographies, including the three stations it has in India — Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi — were suffering from “Degraded Performance”.

    Answer this PYQ from CSP 2018:

    Q.The terms ‘WannaCry, Petya, Eternal Blue’ sometimes mentioned news recently are related to

    (a) Exoplanets

    (b) Crypto currency

    (c) Cyber attacks

    (d) Mini satellites

    What is a CDN?

    • A CDN refers to a geographically distributed group of servers that work together to provide fast delivery of Internet content.
    • They house content close to the telecom service providers’ networks.
    • Majority of web traffic across the world today is routed through CDNs.
    • Platforms such as Netflix, Facebook, Amazon — ones with large quantities of data held in global libraries — host their geographically relevant content closer to where that content is to be consumed.
    • This ensures the end customer is able to access the content faster.
    • Another reason companies rely on these CDNs is to help protect their sites against traffic spikes, distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks, etc.

  • [pib] Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)

    To empower the farmers through the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) scheme, the government has released funds for various activities of Farm Mechanization.

    Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)

    • The Agri ministry has launched this mission in 2014-15 with the objectives of increasing the reach of farm mechanization to small and marginal farmers and to the regions & difficult areas where farm power availability is low.
    • Under this scheme, it has been proposed to established Village Level farm Machinery Bank (VLFMB), Custom Hiring Centres (CHC) and High Tech Hubs (HTH) in order to facilitate easy availability of farm implements and machinery for hire by farmers.

    Why need such a scheme?

    • Agricultural Mechanization plays a vital role in optimizing the use of land, water energy resources, manpower and other inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc to maximize the productivity of the available cultivable area and make agriculture a more profitable and attractive profession for rural youth.
    • It is one of the key drivers for the sustainable development of the agriculture sector.
    • Sustainable Agriculture mechanization growth will require appropriate and precision agricultural machinery adequately supported by the latest technology.

  • Why companies are adopting sustainable business models?

    The article discusses the three undercurrents that are pushing companies to adopt more sustainable business models.

    Demand for sustainable business practices

    • Companies across the world are facing pressure to adopt sustainable business practices.
    • In a global first, a judicial court in the Netherlands has invoked the principles of human rights obligations of companies to rule that the Royal Dutch Shell will have to further accelerate its targeted reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.
    •  The shareholders of Chevron forced upon the management a resolution to set strict emission targets from the products that it sells.
    • The German cabinet approved a law that requires all coal-fired plants to close down much earlier than the target date set only eighteen months ago.
    • In India, the SEBI came out with a new set of Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR).
    • BRSR will be mandatory for the top 1,000 companies from the next year.

    Three factors driving the change

    1) Investors’ pull

    • Workers saving for their pension do not want their investments to go to companies whose tailings-dam can burst and cause hundreds of death in Brazil.
    • Investors also realise the long-term business risk of companies if sustainability isn’t a focus.

    2) Governments’/regulators’ push

    • In 2021, the US announced that it will cut emissions by over 50% by 2030.
    • Japan has almost doubled its 2030 targets.
    • The UK has now announced a target to cut 40-45% by the same time, from the earlier goal of a 30%-cut.
    • China has announced that its emissions will peak by 2030, and by 2060, it would have net zero emissions.
    • India is expected by the global community to announce net-zero by 2050.
    • All of these have huge implications not only for hydrocarbon companies but across multiple sectors.
    • Banking regulators are asking banks to include climate in the risk assessment of the companies they lend to.
    • Insurance and pension regulators are raising similar questions in their sector.

    3) Measurement/reporting

    • When sustainability debates picked up, many organisations like CDP, CDSB, PRI, GRI, TCFD, IMP, IIRC, SASB, etc, sprang up to fulfill the need for sustainability reporting.
    • Often, these worked at cross purposes and in competition with each other, leading to ‘greenwashing’ and other malpractices and creating confusion in the minds of investors.
    • But, the realisation that the investors need a set of comparable and verifiable reporting formats has gathered momentum in the past one year.
    • The last excuse to avoid focus on sustainable business practices will also wither away.

    Consider the question “Financial capital is just one of the multiple capitals a successful company must possess. This brings sustainability into the focus. In light of this, discuss the factors that are forcing the companies to factor in the sustainability in their business models.”

    Conclusion

    The decades-old debate on environmental damage and sustainability is now reaching a decisive phase. Companies need to factor in the sustainability aspect in their profit calculus to remain relevant in changing world.

    Source:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/the-sustainability-heat-on-companies/2268494/

  • What Centre must do to meet the economic challenges

    The article takes an overview of the fiscal and monetary challenges posed by the second covid wave and suggest ensuring the availability of liquidity.

    GDP projections need to be re-examined

    •  According to NSO’s provisional estimates for 2020-21, the annual contraction in real GDP turned out to be 7.3 per cent.
    • The erstwhile GDP growth projections for 2021-22 are being re-examined to take into account the adverse impact of the second wave of the pandemic.
    • The RBI has revised down its 2021-22 real GDP growth forecast to 9.5 per cent.
    • Some other recent estimates (ICRA) indicate the feasibility of a 9 per cent growth.
    •  It is also important to consider nominal GDP growth for 2021-22 since that would be a critical determinant of fiscal prospects. 
    • In the light of supply-side and cost-push pressures, the RBI has projected CPI inflation at 5.1 per cent.
    • The nominal GDP growth may be projected at 13.4 per cent, that is, 1 percentage point lower than Centre’s budget assumption of 14.4 per cent.

    Fiscal aggregates

    • The Controller General of Accounts’ data indicate a gross tax revenues (GTR) of Rs 20.2 lakh crore and net tax revenue of Rs 14.2 lakh crore for 2020-21. 
    • The likely growth in GTR for 2021-22 may be derived by applying a buoyancy of 0.9.
    • This gives a tax revenue growth of 12 per cent, translating that to projected gross and net tax revenues for 2021-22 would mean Rs 22.7 lakh crore and Rs 15.8 lakh crore respectively. 
    • This implies some additional net tax revenues to the Centre amounting to Rs 0.35 lakh crore as compared to the budgeted magnitudes.
    • The main expected shortfall may still be in non-tax revenues and non-debt capital receipts.
    • According to the CGA numbers, their 2020-21 levels are respectively Rs 2.1 lakh crore and Rs 0.57 lakh crore.
    • Applying a growth rate of 15 per cent on these, a shortfall in 2021-22 to the tune of Rs 1.3 lakh crore may arise in non-tax revenues and non-debt capital receipts.

    So, how much would be the Fiscal Deficit?

    • The growth rates of non-tax revenues and and non-debt capital receipts average to a little lower than 15 per cent during the five years preceding 2020-21.
    • In any case, the large budgeted growth of 304 per cent in non-debt capital receipts for 2021-22 seems quite unlikely because of the challenges posed by the second wave.
    • Taking into account RBI’s recently announced dividend of Rs 0.99 lakh crore to the Centre, the main shortfall may be in non-debt capital receipts.
    • Together, the overall shortfall in total non-debt receipts may be limited to about Rs 0.9 lakh crore, or 0.4 per cent of estimated nominal GDP.
    • This indicates that a slippage, if any, in the budgeted fiscal deficit of 6.7 per cent of GDP, as revised in view of the recently released GDP data, could be a limited one.

    Way forward: Prioritise three heads

    • First, an increase in the provision for income support measures for the vulnerable rural and urban population.
    • Second, in light of the recent decision, the budgeted expenditure on vaccination of Rs 0.35 lakh crore ought to be augmented, at the very least, doubled.
    • Third, additional capital expenditure for select sectors, particularly healthcare, should also be provided for.
    • Together these additional expenditures would amount to Rs 1.7 lakh crore, about 0.8 per cent of the estimated nominal GDP.
    • Thus, we need to plan for a fiscal deficit of about 7.9 per cent of GDP.

    Borrowing programme would need RBIs support

    • The Centre has announced borrowings of Rs 1.6 lakh crore to meet the shortfall in the GST compensation cess.
    • Given the higher fiscal deficit, it would need to add to its borrowing programme another Rs 2.6 lakh crore, taking the total borrowing, including GST compensation, to about Rs 16.3 lakh crore, from Rs 12.05 lakh crore now.
    • Borrowing by states would be in addition to this.
    • The net result will be an unprecedented borrowing programme by the Centre which may require RBI’s support.
    • RBI is injecting liquidity into the system through various channels.
    • Banks have sufficient liquidity to subscribe to new debt.
    • This is indirect monetisation of debt.
    • This is not new, but the scale is much higher.
    • Direct monetisation is best avoided.
    • The success of the borrowing programme of the Centre depends on the support provided by the RBI.
    • The support need not be direct.
    • It can be indirect as is currently happening. RBI is injecting liquidity into the system in a big way.
    • Despite this, the money multiplier is low.
    • This may be attributed to two reasons: Low credit expansion and larger leakage in the form of currency.
    • The potential for money supply growth is large.
    • The discussion in the monetary policy statement on inflation is focused entirely on supply availability and bottlenecks in the distribution of commodities.
    • The output gap is certainly relevant.
    • But equally relevant in an analysis of inflation is liquidity in the system, and its impact on output and prices with lags.
    • The injection of liquidity has its limits.

    Conclusion

    With higher expenditure, financed through borrowings, the impact of liquidity expansion on inflation needs to be monitored.