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GS Paper: GS3

  • [pib] Mega Consolidation in Public Sector Banks 

    The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the mega consolidation of ten PSBs into four which include the –

    • Amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank
    • Amalgamation of Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank
    • Amalgamation of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India
    • Amalgamation of Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank

    About the merger

    • The amalgamation would be effective from 1.4.2020 and would result in creation of seven large PSBs with scale and national reach with each amalgamated entity having a business of over Rupees Eight lakh crore.
    • The Mega consolidation would help create banks with scale comparable to global banks and capable of competing effectively in India and globally.
    • Greater scale and synergy through consolidation would lead to cost benefits which should enable the PSBs enhance their competitiveness and positively impact the Indian banking system.

    Must read

    Bank Mergers

    [Burning Issue] Merger of Public Sector Bank

  • Supreme Court ruling on Virtual Currency

    The Supreme Court in a significant move has set aside a ban by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on banks and financial institutions from dealing with virtual currency holders and exchanges.

    Why did the Supreme Court ban virtual currencies?

    • In a circular in 2018, the RBI had banned banks from dealing with virtual currency exchanges and individual holders on the grounds that these currencies had no underlying fiat.
    • RBI held that it was necessary for the larger public interest to stop banks from providing any services related to these.

    Why was the ban unjustified?

    • The court held that the ban did not pass the “proportionality” test.
    • The test of proportionality of any action by the government, the court held, must pass the test of Article 19(1) (g) which states that all citizens of the country will have the right to practise any profession, or carry on any occupation or trade and business.

    What are virtual currencies?

    • There is no globally accepted definition of what exactly is virtual currency.
    • Some agencies have called it a method of exchange of value; others have labelled it a goods item, product or commodity.
    • In its judgment the apex Court observed- Every court which attempted to fix the identity of virtual currencies, merely acted as the 4 blind men in the Anekantavada philosophy of Jainism, who attempt to describe an elephant but end up describing only one physical feature of the elephant.

    Similarities with Bitcoin

    • Satoshi Nakamoto widely regarded as the founder of the modern virtual currency bitcoin and the underlying technology called blockchain defined bitcoins as “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party”.
    • This essentially meant there would be no central regulator for virtual currencies as they would be placed in a globally visible ledger, accessible to all the users of the technology.
    • All users of such virtual currencies would be able to see and keep track of the transactions taking place.

    Are they different from cryptocurrencies?

    • Virtual currency is the larger umbrella term for all forms of non-fiat currency being traded online. Virtual currencies are mostly created, distributed and accepted in local virtual networks.
    • Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, have an extra layer of security, in the form of encryption algorithms.
    • Cryptographic methods are used to make the currency as well as the network on which they are being traded, secure.
    • Most cryptocurrencies now operate on the blockchain or distributed ledger technology, which allows everyone on the network to keep track of the transactions occurring globally.

    Are cryptocurrencies dangerous?

    • The jury is out on that. Organisations across the globe have called for caution while dealing with virtual currencies.
    • A blanket ban of any sort could push the entire system underground, which in turn would mean no regulation.
    • In June 2013, the RBI had for the first time warned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies about the potential financial, operational, legal and customer protection and security-related risks that they were exposing themselves to.
    • The following year, the FATF came out with a report that highlighted both legitimate uses and potential risks associated with virtual currencies.
    • In a different report, it again said the use of such virtual currencies was growing among terror financing groups.

    Why did the RBI ban virtual currencies?

    • Owing to the lack of any underlying fiat, episodes of excessive volatility in their value, and their anonymous nature which goes against global money-laundering rules, the RBI initially flagged its concerns on trade and use of the currency.
    • Risks and concerns about data security and consumer protection on the one hand, and far-reaching potential impact on the effectiveness of monetary policy itself on the other hand, also had the RBI worried about virtual currencies.
    • In its arguments, RBI said it did not want these virtual currencies spreading like a contagion, and had, therefore, in the larger public interest, asked banks not to deal with people or exchanges dealing in these non-fiat currencies.
    • The RBI perceived significant spurt in the valuation of many virtual currencies and rapid growth in initial coin offerings as a risk.

    Proponent’s stance

    • They said the RBI action was outside its purview as the non-fiat currency was not a currency as such.
    • They also argued that the action was too harsh and there had been no studies conducted either by the RBI or by the central government.
    • Arguing that the ban was solely on “moral grounds”, the petitioners said the RBI should have adopted a wait-and-watch approach, as taken by other regulators such as SEBI.

    Faring the Proportionality test

    • In its judgment, the Supreme Court held that the RBI directive came up short on the five-prong test to check proportionality.

    It includes:

    • the direct and immediate impact upon fundamental rights
    • the larger public interest sought to be ensured; a necessity to restrict citizens’ freedom
    • inherent pernicious nature of the act prohibited or its capacity or tendency to be harmful to the general public
    • the possibility of achieving the same object by imposing a less drastic restraint

    Way Forward

    • The Supreme Court’s judgment could lead to the RBI rethinking its policies surrounding virtual currencies.
    • It is expected that the RBI will reconsider its approach to cryptocurrency and come up with a new, calibrated framework or regulation that deals with the reality of these technological advancements.
    • The decision will help those investors who had used legitimate money through banking channels.

  • Media Access Control (MAC) Binding

    After seven months, the use of social media was allowed in Jammu and Kashmir with an order laying down the latest rules for the use of the Internet in the UT.  Among various conditions, the order says Internet connectivity will be made available “with mac-binding”.

    What is Mac-binding?

    • Every device has a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a hardware identification number that is unique to it. While accessing the Internet, every device is assigned an IP address.
    • Mac-binding essentially means binding together the MAC and IP addresses, so that all requests from that IP address are served only by the computer having that particular MAC address.
    • In effect, it means that if the IP address or the MAC address changes, the device can no longer access the Internet.
    • Also, monitoring authorities can trace the specific system from which a particular online activity was carried out.

    Permitted connections

    • The Internet can be accessed on all postpaid devices, and those using Local Area Networks (LAN).
    • While the postpaid SIM card holders shall continue to be provided access to the Internet, these services shall not be made available on prepaid SIM cards unless verified as per the norms applicable for postpaid connections.
    • Apart from this, special access terminals provided by the government will continue to run.
    • It is further directed that the access/communication facilities provided by the government, viz. e-terminals/Internet kiosks apart from special arrangements for tourists, students, traders etc shall continue.

    Only 2G permitted

    • Internet speed in J&K is still restricted to 2G.
    • This means very slow services — pictures will take a long time to be sent or downloaded, videos will be nearly impossible to share, and there will be a long loading time for most websites.
    • It also means that although in theory, the “whitelist system” — where people could only access some websites pre-approved by the government — has been removed, some sites designed for a 4G Internet experience will hardly work.

    Have curbs been lifted?

    • Not exactly. The latest order is to remain in force till March 17 unless modified earlier.
    • The government has been relaxing Internet and phone usage in the UTs in phases.

  • Unguarded X hypothesis

    Men outnumbered women by 37 million in the 2011 Census of India, but among those over the age of 60, there were more than 1 million more women than men. In general, men live shorter lives than women worldwide. This is due to the chromosomal differences between the two, points’ new study.

    What are Chromosomes?

    • The human body is made up of cells, and in the centre of each cell is the nucleus. Chromosomes, which are located inside the nucleus, are structures that hold the genes.
    • It is the genes that determine the various traits of an individual including eye colour, blood type — and sex.
    • The human cell has 23 pairs of chromosomes. One pair is of the sex chromosomes, named X and Y, which determine whether an individual is male or female.
    • A female has two X chromosomes (XX) while a male has one X and one Y (XY).

    Unguarded X hypothesis

    • This hypothesis suggests that the Y chromosome in XY is less able to to protect an individual from harmful genes expressed on the X chromosome.
    • In a male, as the Y chromosome is smaller than the X chromosome, it is unable to “hide” an X chromosome that carries harmful mutations, which may later expose the individual to health threats.
    • On the other hand, the hypothesis goes, there is no such problem in a pair of X chromosomes (XX) in a female.
    • If one of the X chromosomes has genes that have suffered mutations, then the other X chromosome, which is healthy, can stand in for the first, so that the harmful genes are not expressed.
    • This maximizes the length of life, according to the hypothesis. And this is what the UNSW researchers set out to examine.

    Testing the hypothesis

    • In a statement issued by UNSW, PhD student and study first author Zoe Xirocostas said the
    • Unguarded X hypothesis appears to stack up, after examining the lifespan data available on a wide range of animal species.
    • Researchers studied lifespan data in not just primates but mammals and birds, but also reptiles, fish, amphibians, arachnids, cockroaches, grasshoppers, beetles, butterflies and moths among others.
    • It was found that across that broad range of species, the heterogametic sex (XY in humans) does tend to die earlier than the homogametic sex (XX in humans).

  • Way out lies within

    Context

    Domestic demand must play a greater role in India’s growth story.

    Recovery in the Indian economy

    • Sub-5 per cent growth rate: India’s fourth-quarter GDP growth (the calendar year 2019) printed another sub-5 per cent growth rate.
    • Favourable base effect: It would have been lower had it not been for the large downward revisions to previous years’ GDP that statistically boosted the last quarter’s growth rate because of favourable base effects.
    • The decline in GDP stabilised: Policymakers and the market heaved a sigh of relief that the relentless decline over the last three years at least seems to have stabilised around 4-5 per cent.
    • Why some countries prefer sequential growth rate: Because year-over growth rates are so strongly affected by what happened a year ago, most economies (including China) instead publish and conduct policy discussions based on sequential quarterly growth.
      • Better sense of momentum: Sequential growth rates provide a much better sense of the momentum and turning points in activity, which are critical to deciding whether, how much, and when the economy needs policy support.
    • The magnitude of recovery: The growth momentum rose, albeit modestly, from 3.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2019 to 4.1 per cent.
      • Non-farm and non-governmental GDP recovery: More importantly, non-farm and non-government GDP (the closest approximation to non-farm private-sector GDP) bounced much more sharply from 1.6 per cent (and no this is not a misprint) to 4.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.

    What is the dominant narrative of the slide in growth?

    • The deceleration in sequential terms: With the revised data, we now know that annual growth over the last four years has slowed from 8.3 per cent to 7 per cent to 6.1 per cent to 4-5 per cent.
      • The decline in non-farm private GDP: In sequential terms, the deceleration was far more dramatic, especially in non-farm private GDP, which after hitting a run rate of 13 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 fell to 1.6 per cent by the third quarter of 2019.
      • The dominant narrative of the cause of slide: The dominant narrative is that India’s woes are just an unfortunate and unintended consequence of demonetisation, the shift to a national GST, and the credit squeeze caused by the bad debt in banks and non-banks.
      • The dominant narrative on recovery: With a bit more fiscal support, some monetary easing, and extended regulatory forbearance to help banks work out their bad debts, these headwinds will fade and India will likely be back to its winning ways.

    Why real cause of the slowdown lays somewhere else?

    Following factors suggest that answer lies somewhere else.

    • Disruptive but not the drivers of the slowdown: While it is undeniable that facts stated in the dominant narrative had been disruptive, they couldn’t be the drivers of the decline.
      • Slide in growth started even before demonetisation: India’s growth had been sliding since the second quarter of 2016; nearly 6 months before demonetisation and a year before the GST was introduced.
      • By the third quarter of 2016, non-farm private sector growth had already slid to 3.5 per cent.
      • Bad debt problem predates slowdown: Although bad debt hit the headlines in 2016, the overleverage had already begun to tighten bank lending since 2014.
    • Fall in corporate investment- inexplicable cause: More inexplicable is the argument that falling corporate investment is the main culprit for the slowdown.
      • It is true that corporate investment is no longer running at the heady 17 per cent of GDP of the pre-global financial crisis (GFC) days but at a much more sombre 11-12 per cent.
      • However, this outsized adjustment had already taken place by 2010 and since then, corporate investment has flatlined at current levels.

    The answer lies in globalisation

    It is obvious once one eschews India’s exceptionalism and accepts that it is just another emerging market economy that grew on the coattails of globalisation with the minimal reforms. Globalisation has largely determined India’s fate.

    • Growth in corporate investment and exports: Contrary to a widely held misperception, India is and has been for a long time far more open to the global economy than believed.
      • Rise in corporate investment from 5 to 17%: The limited liberalisation of 1991-92, coupled with the corporate restructuring in the late 1990s, spurred corporate investment to rise from 5-6 per cent of GDP in the early 2000s to 17 per cent of GDP by 2008.
      • Increase in exports: Almost all of this expansion in investment was geared to produce for exports, which grew at an astonishing pace of 18 per cent per year-over-year in this period as global trade expanded at breakneck speed with the entry of China into the WTO in 2001.
      • 12% of GDP to 26% of GDP: Exports as a share of GDP more than doubled from 12 per cent in the early 2000s to over 26 per cent by 2008.
      • Slow growth in private consumption: In contrast, private domestic consumption, which is considered to be India’s great strength, grew only at 6 per cent annually, less than the growth rate of the economy, such that its share in GDP fell from 63 per cent to 56 per cent.
      • The engine of the Indian economy- Export: Since 2012, global trade has floundered and with that so has India’s economy.
      • Indeed, the entire rise and fall of investment, including the quarter-to-quarter twists and turns in it, can be almost fully explained by changes in exports.
      • The Indian economy has long been flying on one engine – exports — and that is now spluttering.

    What are the prospects of taking the economy back to its high growth path

    • Unlikely: So will the nascent recovery strengthen and take the economy back to its high growth path? Unlikely on current policies.
    • COVID-19 factor: In the near term, as in now widely feared, the COVID-19 outbreak could turn into a pandemic, sharply reducing global demand and trade.
      • With that, even expectations of a modest 2019-20 recovery to 5.25 per cent growth are under threat.
    • Backlash against globalisation: Over the longer term, it is unlikely that global trade will return to its pre-Global financial crisis growth rates not only because supply chains have stopped expanding in the absence of any material technology breakthrough, but there is also a growing political backlash against globalisation in the developed market that has led to increased trade barriers.

    Way forward

    • Search for new sources of growth: India too, like other emerging market economies, needs to face up to the reality that it can no longer depend on global trade to be the only growth driver. Instead, it needs to search and find new sources of growth and that starts with recognising and accepting reality.
    • Let domestic demand play a greater role in the economy: Policymakers need to stop thinking about India as a perennially supply-constrained economy focusing almost all policies and reforms to easing these constraints. Instead, it is time to let domestic demand play a greater role in India’s growth story.
    • Policy changes: The above factors mean that India Inc. needs to shift from producing what foreigners want to produce what residents can afford, it also means that policymakers have to reverse policies that have so far forced households to keep increasing savings (for retirement income, children’s education, healthcare, and housing) through a web of financial repression, regulatory distortions, and public spending choices.
      • It means redesigning India’s infrastructure to look more inward and less outward.
      • Reduce out of pocket expenses: Increasing public provisioning of healthcare and education, reforming insurance regulations to reduce out-of-pocket expenses and eliminating financial repression to raise returns on retirement savings.
      • Merely tinkering with macroeconomic policies will not be enough.

     

     

  • The growth challenge

    Context

    The focus in the near future should to increase investments and facilitate credit for funding these productive assets so that India’s potential output growth can steadily rise.

    Growth prospects of India

    • The NSO forecast at 5%: The latest data from the National Statistical Office (NSO) retained India’s economic growth forecast at 5 per cent for the current financial year.
      • Growth has dropped from 6.1 per cent in the previous year.
    • Fall in nominal GDP: More strikingly, nominal GDP growth has decelerated from an average of 11 per cent during 2016-17 to 2018-19 to 7.5 per cent this year.
      • Lower inflation added to the volume slowdown.
      • The value of India’s GDP for FY20 is estimated at around $2.9 trillion.

    Input and output side growth prospects

    • GDP is estimated from both output and demand lenses, using specific economic indicators as proxies for activity in specific sectors.
    • Output side: From the output side, sector-wise estimates were as following-
      • Agriculture sector growth was revised up to 3.7 per cent (up from the 2.8 per cent previously).
      • Agricultural production is expected to improve based on the third advance estimates of the rabi season crops, as well as higher horticulture and allied sector output (livestock, forestry and fishing), which now is significantly larger than conventional food crops.
      • Industrial activity was lowered to 1.5 per cent (from 2.3 per cent earlier).
      • The key concern regarding the continuing slowdown is the increasing weakness in the industrial sector (particularly of manufacturing, whose growth has progressively fallen from 13.1 per cent in FY16 to 5.7 per cent in FY19, and plummeting to 0.9 per cent in FY20).
      • Services output remained largely unchanged at 6.5 per cent.
    • Demand-side: From a demand perspective, the obverse side to the manufacturing slowdown is the even sharper drop in fixed asset investment growth — down sharply from an average 8.5 per cent during FY17 and FY19 to -0.6 per cent in FY20.
      • The causes for this contraction needs to be understood in detail, and we will return to this.

    Private consumption- a significant driver of growth

    • Private consumption at 60% of GDP: The other significant driver of growth in India has been private consumption. For perspective, the share of private consumption had averaged 59-60 per cent during FY16-FY20.
    • Government consumption 10% of GDP: Reflecting the higher spending over the last couple of years, the share of government consumption in GDP has risen from an average of 10.5 per cent of GDP over FY12-17 to almost 12 per cent in FY20, resulting in the share of total consumption above 70 per cent.

    Drop in the share of nominal investment

    • Drop from 39 % to 30 % of GDP: The really remarkable trend, though, as noted above, is the share of nominal investment in GDP progressively dropping from 39 per cent in FY12 to 30 per cent in FY20.
    • Is it a good sign? Part of this is actually good, reflecting higher Capex efficiency.
      • Slowing household consumption: One narrative underlying the contraction in fresh Capex in FY20 was slowing household consumption growth, which, in nominal terms, fell from an average 11.6 per cent during FY16-19 to an estimated 9.1 per cent in FY20.
      • Disproportionate contribution to lower growth: Though the deceleration prima facie does not seem significant enough to result in a broader economic slowdown of the current magnitude, the high share of household consumption has contributed disproportionately to lower growth.
      • Fall in capacity utilisation: A direct fallout of this is that seasonally adjusted capacity utilisation (based on RBI surveys) had shrunk from 73.4 per cent in the first quarter of FY20 to 70.3 per cent in the second quarter, and this is unlikely to have improved materially in the second half of the year.
      • This is one of the reasons for the low levels of fresh investment.

    Reduced flow of credit to the commercial sector

    • Impediment to growth revival: The other cause of the low Capex, more from the supply side, is a much-reduced flow of credit to the commercial sector, and this remains the proximate impediment for growth revival, with signs of risk aversion in lending still strong despite the recent measures by RBI to incentivise credit to productive sectors.
      • Funds from selected sources, over April-January FY20, was only about Rs 9 lakh crore as against Rs 15 lakh crore in the corresponding 10 months of FY19.
    • Bank credit lowest in three months: Growth in bank credit (which is still the largest source of financing) till mid-February 2020 was down to 6.3 per cent — the lowest in three years.
      • Even this is almost wholly driven by retail credit; incremental credit to industry and services over this period was negative.

    Investor confidence and coronavirus factor

    • A bright feature of the economic environment: One bright feature in this economic environment is strong foreign investor confidence in India, reflected in both FPI equity and FDI flows.
      • Many borrowers have used offshore sources to refinance or pay down domestic bank loans and debt.
      • A global risk-off environment might restrict even this channel in the near future.
    • Robust corporate bond issuances: Domestic corporate bond issuances have also remained robust, although the dominant set of borrowers still remain public sector agencies and financial institutions.
    • Coronavirus factor likely to moderate the gains: Monthly economic indicators suggest that the growth deceleration has likely bottomed out in the third quarter.
      • The bet has been on reducing inventories and the consequent production ramp-up to replenish stocks. However, the evidence on this is mixed.
      • The coronavirus effects, both concurrent and lagged, will also moderate some of the emerging positive effects of counter-cyclical policy measures of the past six months.
      • If the outbreak does not abate over the next month or so, the complex supply chains of intermediates sourced from China will run dry and add to the already weak system demand.
    • Growth prospects in the next few weeks: Surveys indicate that both business and consumer confidence, which while improving, remain muted. A growth revival, hence, is likely to be only very modest over the next few quarters.

    Conclusion

    A $5 trillion economy by 2025 is still a worthwhile target and aspirational; coordinated strategies, policies, execution and institutional mechanisms will be needed to move up to a sustained 8 per cent plus growth consistent with achieving the target. The focus in the near future should to increase investments and facilitate credit for funding these productive assets so that India’s potential output growth can steadily rise.

     

  • National Interlinking of Rivers Authority (NIRA)

     

     

    The Central government is working on the establishment of an exclusive body to implement projects for linking rivers.

    National Interlinking of Rivers Authority

    • To be called the NIRA, the proposed body is expected to take up both inter-State and intra-State projects.
    • It will also make arrangements for generating up funds, internally and externally.
    • Headed by Union Minister of Jal Shakti, the panel includes Irrigation or Water Resources Ministers and Secretaries of States.
    • It is being assisted by a Task Force for ILR, which is a committee of experts essentially drawn from the Jal Shakti Ministry, Central Water Commission and the NWDA.

    About National River Linking Project (NRLP)

    • The NRLP formally known as the National Perspective Plan, envisages the transfer of water from water ‘surplus’ basins where there is flooding to water ‘deficit’ basins where there is drought/scarcity, through inter-basin water transfer projects.
    • It is designed to ease water shortages in western and southern India while mitigating the impacts of recurrent floods in the eastern parts of the Ganga basin.
    • Interlinking of rivers was conceived more than 125 years ago by Sir Arthur Cotton, mainly to facilitate trade but it was not implemented then.
    • The proposed NRLP, now comprises 29 canals totalling 9,600 km, will involve the movement of 245 trillion litres of water.
    • If and when implemented, it will be one of the biggest inter-basin water transfer projects in the world.

    ILR Projects in India

    • As of now, six ILR projects — the Ken-Betwa, Damanganga- Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada, Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga, Mahanadi-Godavari and Godavari-Cauvery (Grand Anicut) — have been under examination of the authorities.
    • The Ken-Betwa ILR is India’s first such project.
    • With regard to the peninsular rivers, the Centre has chosen to focus on the Godavari-Cauvery link than the earlier proposal to link the Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery rivers.

    Issues and Concerns

    Ecological issues

    One of the major concerns is that rivers change their course in 70–100 years and thus once they are linked, future change of course could create huge practical problems for the project.

    Aqua life

    A number of leading environmentalists are of the opinion that the project could be an ecological disaster. There would be a decrease in downstream flows resulting in reduction of fresh water inflows into the seas seriously jeopardizing aquatic life.

    Deforestation

    Creation of canals would need large areas of land resulting in large scale deforestation in certain areas.

    Areas getting submerged

    Possibility of new dams comes with the threat of large otherwise habitable or reserved land getting submerged under water or surface water. Fertile deltas will be under threat, with coastal erosion expected to threaten the land and livelihoods of local economies that support 160 million people.

    Displacement of people

    As large strips of land might have to be converted to canals, a considerable population living in these areas must need to be rehabilitated to new areas.

    Dirtying of clean water

    As the rivers interlink, rivers with dirty water will get connected to rivers with clean water, hence dirtying the clean water.

    Disrupting of ecological flow

    On implementation, water discharge in 23 out of 29 rivers will reduce considerably, they say. The Ganga will see a 24% decrease in flow. Its tributaries Gandak (-68%) and Ghaghara (-55%) will be the worst affected. While the Brahmaputra will see only a 6% loss, its tributaries will see massive flow reductions: Manas (-73%), Sankosh (-72%) and Raidhak (-53%). Changes in water flow and trapping of silt in reservoirs will see a dip in the sediment deposited by rivers.

    Must read:

    https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/national-river-linking-project-dream-or-disaster

  • [pib] Biomethanation Process

     

     

    In an all India coordinated project, efforts are on to produce bio-gas for kitchen use and quality manure for fields using bio-methanation of rice straw by anaerobic digestion method. Six domestic level paddy straw-based bio-gas plants have been installed in Punjab for field trials and further study is in progress.

    What is Biomethanation?

    • It is a process by which organic material is microbiologically converted under anaerobic conditions to biogas.
    • Three main physiological groups of microorganisms are involved: fermenting bacteria, organic acid oxidizing bacteria, and methanogenic archaea.
    • Biomethanation has strong potential for the production of energy from organic residues and wastes. It will help to reduce the use of fossil fuels and thus reduce CO(2) emission.

    How it works?

    • Microorganisms degrade organic matter via cascades of biochemical conversions to methane and carbon dioxide.
    • Syntrophic relationships between hydrogen producers (acetogens) and hydrogen scavengers (homoacetogens, hydrogenotrophic methanogens, etc.) are critical to the process.
    • A wide variety of process applications for biomethanation of wastewaters, slurries, and solid waste have been developed.
    • They utilize different reactor types and process conditions (retention times, loading rates, temperatures, etc.) in order to maximize the energy output from the waste and also to decrease retention time and enhance process stability.

  • [pib] Amendment to the Export Policy of APIs and formulations made from these APIs

    The Government has made amendments in the export policy and restricted export of specified APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) and formulations made from these APIs.

    Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)

    • All drugs are made up of two core components: the API, which is the central ingredient, and the excipients, the substances other than the drug that helps deliver the medication to your system.
    • The API is the part of any drug that produces its effects.
    • Excipients are chemically inactive substances, such as lactose or mineral oil.
    • The quality of APIs has a significant effect on the efficacy and safety of medications.

    The notification covers the following APIs and formulations made from these APIs:

    • Paracetamol
    • Tinidazole
    • Metronidazole
    • Acyclovir
    • Vitamin B1
    • Vitamin B6
    • Vitamin B12
    • Progesterone
    • Chloramphenicol
    • Erythromycin Salts
    • Neomycin
    • Clindamycin Salts
    • Ornidazole

  • Species in news: Swamp Wallaby

     

    Researchers reported that the swamp wallaby, a marsupial related to the kangaroo, is pregnant throughout its adult life. It typically conceives a new embryo days before delivering the newborn from its previous pregnancy.

    Swamp wallaby

    IUCN Status: Least Concerned

    • The swamp wallaby is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. It is likely the only mammal pregnant and lactating all lifelong.
    • Female wallabies and kangaroos have two uteri and two separate ovaries.
    • At the end of a pregnancy in one uterus, a new embryo develops in the other uterus.
    • Kangaroos and wallabies regularly have an embryo in the uterus, a young joey in the pouch, and a third semi-dependent young at foot, still drinking its mother’s milk.

    How it is different from Kangaroo?

    • In kangaroos, the new embryo is conceived a day or two after the previous birth.
    • In the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor), the new conception happens one or two days before the previous joey is delivered.

    What happens after?

    • As soon as the mature foetus is born and settles in the pouch, the swamp wallaby arrests the development of the new embryo.
    • This is called embryonic diapause, which happens in many animals to pause reproduction until the conditions are right — season, climate, food availability.
    • For wallabies, this is also to ensure that the new one is born only when the pouch is free again.
    • If this did not happen, the swamp wallaby would be birthing new young every 30 days — it has a short gestation period — and its pouch could not support that.