Based on the results of the Civil Services (Main) Examination,2022 declared by the Union Public Service Commission on 6th Dec 2022, the Commission has decided to commence the Personality Tests (Interviews) for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2022 on Monday, 30.01.2023.
Below is the P.T. schedule for 1026 candidates, indicating their Roll Number, Date, and Session of the interview from 30.01.2022 to 10.03.2023.
The Supreme Court’s Technical Expert Committee and two unanimous reports of multi-party parliamentary standing committees have recommended that genetically modified (GM) Herbicide Tolerant (HT) crops should be banned in India.
Uncontrollable and irreversible: Transgenic technology, unlike other technologies, is uncontrollable and irreversible after environmental release.
Self-propagation and proliferation: Living Modified Organisms (LMOs), as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety refers to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), propagate themselves and proliferate.
Long term assessment is necessary: This process cannot be reversed. Therefore, any deliberate environmental release has to be only after thorough, independent, peer-reviewed assessment of long-term implications.
Precaution is necessary: The precautionary principle is a cornerstone because of the unpredictability and time lag of serious outcomes manifesting in highly complex living systems, and their irreversibility. To draw a parallel, not a single one of 330 invasive species (for example, lantana, parthenium) in India has yet been eliminated, despite estimated damage of Rs 8.3 trillion by just 10 of them!
Reality check on GM crops
Less countries adopted GM technology: More than 25 years after their introduction, GM crops are still globally grown in just 29 out of 172 countries. Moreover, 91 per cent of GM crop area continues to be in just five countries (USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, India).
BT cotton demand is declining: Most countries of Europe and Japan, Israel, Russia, Malaysia etc., do not grow GM crops. In China, a first adopter, Bt cotton area has been declining and non-GM hybrid technology is used for rapeseed/mustard.
Heavy focus on two traits only: Only two traits are present in over 85 per cent of GM crops grown herbicide tolerance (HT, where crop plants are modified to withstand large amounts of toxic weed-killing chemicals), and/or insect resistance (pesticidal toxin, usually Bt, is produced inside the plant).
Negative impact of HT crops
Damage to ecology: HT crops result in not only ecological damage, but human health impacts for consumers. Like tobacco, once declared safe, the effects take long to manifest.
Honey production will be affected: Beekeepers say that HT mustard will affect honey production and contaminated honey will damage exports.
Human health will be affected: As regards human health, probable carcinogenicity, neuro-toxicity, reproductive health problems, organ damage etc. have been documented by independent research on GM crops and associated herbicides, once claimed by developers and regulators to be “safe”.
Campaign against release of GM crops: Like thousands of doctors in other countries, over 100 eminent Indian doctors have conveyed their concerns asked that no HT food crops be released and the planted GM mustard be uprooted before flowering.
Proponent says Mustard is not a HT crop: It is claimed that DMH-11 is not an HT crop as the use of the Bar gene which confers an herbicide tolerance trait is essentially for the pollination control technology in creating hybrids, and glufosinate herbicide will only be used during seed production.
Opponent says it’s a HT crop: The reality is that by virtue of the Bar gene being present in both parental lines, and thereby also in all their hybrid offspring, this GM mustard can withstand application of a toxic weedkiller, glufosinate, including in farmers’ fields. It should therefore have been assessed as an HT crop.
Government failed to prevent illegal use of HT cotton: If governments, for over 10 years, have been aware of the illegal planting of herbicide tolerant cotton and rampant illegal use of glyphosate on such HT cotton, and have been unable or unwilling to stop this, what “regulatory process” will now prevent farmers in search of low-cost weeding options from spraying glufosinate on herbicide tolerant mustard?
What are the observations of SC and parliamentary Committee?
Absence of regulatory protocol: The ongoing litigations in the Supreme Court are about serious shortcomings in our regulatory regime. Minutes of meetings of the regulatory body GEAC and the “guidelines and protocols” on the regulator’s website reflect an absence of regulatory protocols for HT crops.
Inadequate bio testing: And yet a crop with an HT trait is being released in the environment! The technical expert committee (TEC) appointed by the SC and the unanimous multi-party reports of two parliamentary standing committees have exposed serious lapses and inadequacies in bio-safety testing.
Against the release of GM crops: They all advised that herbicide tolerant crops, which GM Mustard is, should not be released in Indian conditions.
Government panel recommended the ban: Even the government-nominated experts in the TEC asked for a ban on HT crops. The government, surely, cannot call them unscientific.
No independent participant in testing: Testing on GM mustard has been done with test protocols evolved by the crop developer, and most tests were done by the applicant. No independent health expert participated in the committees that looked at GM mustard safety.
No biosafety data: To this day, biosafety data of GM mustard has not been posted on the regulator’s website for independent scrutiny.
Conclusion
GM crop transgenic technology comes with mixed baggage. Government must strike the balance between biodiversity concern and welfare of farmers. Outright ban or permission without credible data and scrutiny must be avoided.
Mains Question
Q. What are the worrisome aspects of transgenic technology? What are the observations of Supreme court and parliamentary committee regarding GM crops?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi commended the recent growth of traditional medicine (TM), and Ayurveda in particular, while addressing the World Ayurveda Congress 2022 (WAC) earlier this month. Noting the lag in evidence despite considerable research, he gave a clarion call “to bring together medical data, research, and journals and verify claims (benefit) using modern science parameters”.
All you need to know about World Ayurveda Congress (WAC)
Platform by World Ayurveda foundation: The World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) is a platform established by World Ayurveda Foundation to propagate Ayurveda globally in its true sense.
Platform to connect various stakeholders in medicine: World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) is a platform to connect Ayurveda practitioners, medicine manufacturers, enthusiasts and academicians.
What is the mandate: World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) & Arogya Expo monitors progress and initiate missions and collect feedbacks.
World Ayurveda Congress (WAC), 2022
9th edition of WAC held at Panjim, Goa: The 9th edition of World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) & Arogya Expo was organized at PANJIM, GOA.
Organised by Ministry of AYSUSH on the principle of whole government approach (WGA): The WAC organised by the Ministry of AYUSH on the ‘Whole Government Approach’ (WGA) to foster and strengthen the research ecosystem for AYUSH systems.
What is Whole System Approach (WSA): The concept of WGA is in consonance with the “Whole System Approach” (WSA). WSA encompasses integrated and network participation of several stakeholders (including patients and the community) for better solutions (treatment outcomes) in a challenging and complex situation. IM is an important component of WSA in the current context.
Active Participation: The event witnessed the active participation of more than 40 countries and all states of India.
PM’s vision: To transform the healthcare system of the country and to develop a healthy society, there is a need to think holistically and integrate the Traditional medicine (TM) and modern medicine system (MM).
World Ayurveda Foundation (WAF)
Aim of WAF: WAF is an initiative by Vijnana Bharati aimed at global propagation of Ayurveda, founded in 2011.
Objective and core principle: The objectives of WAF reflect global scope, propagation and encouragement of all activities scientific and Ayurveda related are the core principles.
Focus Areas: Support to research, health-care programmes through camps, clinics and sanatoriums, documentation, organization of study groups, seminars, exhibitions and knowledge initiatives to popularize Ayurveda in the far corners of the world are the broad latitudes of focus at WAF.
What is Traditional Medicine?
According to WHO: The WHO describes traditional medicine as the total sum of the “knowledge, skills and practices indigenous and different cultures have used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness”.
Culmination of multiple ancient practices: Its reach encompasses ancient practices such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and herbal mixtures as well as modern medicines.
Percentage of people use traditional medicine: of According to WHO estimates, 80% of the world’s population uses traditional medicine.
Traditional medicine in India
It is often defined as including practices and therapies such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha that have been part of Indian tradition historically, as well as others such as homeopathy that became part of Indian tradition over the years.
Ayurveda and yoga are practised widely across the country.
The Siddha system is followed predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The Sowa-Rigpa System is practised mainly in Leh-Ladakh and Himalayan regions such as Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, Lahaul & Spiti.
How TM modalities (such as Ayurveda or homoeopathy) can scientifically align with MM for a better outcome?
Remarkable success in treating neurological diseases: A recently established Department of IM in NIMHANS continued to show remarkable success in treating difficult neurological diseases with a team of Ayurvedic and MM physicians and carefully planned and monitored IM strategy.
CRD projects: Modern rheumatology practice in the Centre for Rheumatic Diseases (CRD) model includes critical elements of TM and Ayurveda, which have shown unequivocal evidence in CRD research projects
Evaluation based on other protocols: Several controlled protocols-based evaluations of standardised Ayurvedic drugs and other TM modalities (such as diet, exercise, yoga, and counselling), often in conjunction with MM, in arthritis patients, were completed.
Sustained clinical improvement in patients suffering from active Rheumatoid arthritis (RA): RA is a severely painful crippling lifelong autoimmune condition, mostly seen in women, and universally acknowledged as difficult to treat. Supervised and monitored IM intervention (including Ayurvedic drugs) over several years showed a consistently superior and sustained clinical improvement in patients suffering from active RA.
AYUSH systems include Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani, Siddha, and other TM.
AYUSH systems and MM differ radically in several ways or so it seems.
Modern scientific research in Ayurveda is often at variance with classical Ayurveda.
Unlike MM, TM has at its core a personalised approach. MM is dominantly reductionist.
The ambitious futuristic programme of TM and IM by AYUSH is well-intended and in the right direction.
Conclusion
TM and Ayurveda need to respond to the new world order, which has changed substantially recently. It is reasonably certain that MM and TM in the current format will continue to treat several medical disorders and altered health states. But evidence-based medicine will become the new mantra. Also, informed and empowered patients and people will continue to make the right choices.
Mains question
Q. What is World Ayurveda congress? What is tradition medicines? How Traditional medicines can align with modern medicines to treat several serious medical disorders.
Despite India’s rich history and unrivaled cultural diversity, the country remains hampered by the lack of a comprehensive soft power strategy, said the Parliamentary standing committee on external affairs.
What is Soft Power?
In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power).
It is the capacity to attract and persuade others to do things they otherwise wouldn’t.
It involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction.
Soft power resources are the assets that produce attraction or centre of attraction in geopolitical arena.
Etymology of the word
Joseph Nye, a US foreign policy veteran, coined the phrase soft power in 1990.
He encourages readers of his book The Future of Power to think of soft power in terms of resources
Power is derived from resources, and soft power is no different.
Hard power rests on military resources like navy fleets, attack aircraft and a capacity to inflict harm.
Soft power rests on three primary resources:
Culture,
Political values and
Foreign policy
Why discuss this?
In addition to economic and military power, the idea of Soft Power has gained traction during the past few decades.
Indian arts, culture, yoga and spiritualism, culinary varieties, festivals, music and dance forms etc, have attracted people from all around the world for centuries.
Projecting India’s Soft Power
Areas which can be used to further India’s soft power include-
Yoga and Ayurveda
Spiritual knowledge of India ex. Save Soil movement by Sadhguru
Indian cuisine
Indian film industry ex. Indian movies are always cherished in EU and South Asia.
Indian sports and games
Indian handicrafts and GI goods ex. PM Modi gifting local handicrafts to foreign dignitaries
Epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata
Sustainable practices of India like environmental friendliness and respect towards other creatures. Ex: About 300 years ago, more than 300 Bishnois were killed while trying to peacefully protect a grove of Khejri trees in Rajasthan.
Limitations of soft power
Soft power has been criticized as for being ineffective or less effective tool in diplomacy.
Actors in international relations respond to only two types of incentives: Economic incentives and Forceful coercion.
As a concept, it can be difficult to distinguish soft power from hard power.
Rising powers such as China, are creating new approaches to soft power ex. Debt Traps, thus using it defensively.
Soft power can backfire, leading to reputational damage or loss, or what has been termed ‘soft disempowerment’. Ex. India’s perception in Maldives.
Initiatives by India showcasing its soft power
Principle of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’
Non-Alignment Movement
‘Neighborhood First’ Policy
Vaccine diplomacy
Aid to Sri Lanka
Developmental aids in Afghanistan
Humanitarian assistance for disaster relief (HADR) in the neighborhood
Political sensitization of leaders e. Late foreign minister responding to Tweets
Major achievements
India has moral high ground at the world forum especially due to the non-violent manner in which we had achieved our independence.
International support for tough decisions like abrogation of article 370, and maintaining neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine War.
It keeps India distant from world conflicts like recently in Syria, Sudan, Israel-Palestine issue. So India earns goodwill from all over the world.
Threats to India’s soft power
India’s older regimes and academia did little to encourage, protect or to benefit from Yoga.
Perhaps no other country in recent times has so ignored the potential value of its soft power.
There is a cultural battle occurring in the media and academia, in which India’s civilizational views are poorly represented.
India’s cultural diplomacy is often labeled by the left liberals as Hindutva Politics.
Recommendations by the Committee on External Affairs
Strategy document: The committee has recommended that a policy document should be prepared on India’s soft power projections along with a Soft Power Matrix for evaluating soft power outcomes.
Inter-ministerial synergy: The report highlighted the need for greater synergy among MEA and other Ministries, Departments, and agencies involved in India’s soft power projections and cultural diplomacy.
Revamping the Indian Council of Cultural Relations: China is estimated to spend about $10 billion a year just on its Confucius Institutes and soft power promotion whereas ICCR and other agencies put together spend only Rs. 300-400 crore.
Increased funding: To step up India’s efforts, the committee recommended a minimum 20% hike in the budget of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
Talent acquisition: MEA representatives admitted that finding and inducting trained personnel into the government has been a challenge. Bureaucrats, they submitted, were not always the right pick for cultural diplomacy.
Way forward
India should move beyond asanas and analysis and take action.
Having the Indian story merely out there, jostling with a hundred other stories, isn’t necessarily winning the war of narrative.
Our cultural outreach must be well-oiled, well-funded, and primed to produce geopolitical clout.
Our moves — whether they be hard-to-power thrusts or soft power maneuvers — must emanate from consistent strategy.
In the age of the internet, India must amplify its strengths and work rapidly to right the wrongs.
To raise awareness on millets and prepare for 2023, PM Modi, along with fellow parliamentarians across party lines, enjoyed a sumptuous lunch where millets were front and centre.
Why in news?
2023 has been declared as the “International Year of Millets” by the United Nations, after a proposal from India in 2019.
What are Millets?
Millet are small-grained cereals like sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), foxtail millet (kangni), little millet (kutki), kodo millet, finger millet (ragi/ mandua), proso millet (cheena/ common millet), barnyard millet (sawa/ sanwa/ jhangora), and brown top millet (korale).
They were among the first crops to be domesticated.
There is evidence for consumption of millets in the Indus-Sarasvati civilisation (3,300 to 1300 BCE).
Several varieties that are now grown around the world were first cultivated in India.
West Africa, China, and Japan are also home to indigenous varieties of the crop.
Cultivation of millets
Millets are now grown in more than 130 countries, and are the traditional food for more than half a billion people in Asia and Africa.
Globally, sorghum (jowar) is the biggest millet crop.
The major producers of jowar are the US, China, Australia, India, Argentina, Nigeria, and Sudan.
Bajra is another major millet crop; India and some African countries are major producers.
Millets in India
In India, millets are mainly a kharif crop.
During 2018-19, three millet crops — bajra (3.67%), jowar (2.13%), and ragi (0.48%) — accounted for about 7 per cent of the gross cropped area in the country, Agriculture Ministry data show.
(1) Jowar
Jowar is mainly grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh.
In 2020-21, the area under jowar stood at 4.24 million hectares, while production was 4.78 million tonnes.
Maharashtra accounted for the largest area (1.94 mn ha) and production (1.76 million tonnes) of jowar during 2020-21.
(2) Bajra
Bajra is mainly grown in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Of the total 7.75 mn ha under bajra in 2020-21, the highest (4.32 mn ha) was in Rajasthan.
The state also produced the most bajra in the country (4.53 million tonnes of the total 10.86 million tonnes) in 2020-21.
The consumption of millets was reported mainly from these states: Gujarat (jowar and bajra), Karnataka (jowar and ragi), Maharashtra (jowar and bajra), Rajasthan (bajra), and Uttarakhand (ragi).
Benefits of Millets
Millets are eco-friendly crops: They require much less water than rice and wheat, and can be grown in rainfed areas without additional irrigation.
Lesser water footprints: Wheat and rice have the lowest green water footprints but the highest blue water footprints, while millets were exactly opposite. Green water footprint refers to water from precipitation whereas blue water refers to water from land sources.
Highly nutritious: Agriculture Ministry declared certain varieties of millets as “Nutri Cereals” for the purposes of production, consumption, and trade.
Nutrition security: Millets contain 7-12% protein, 2-5% fat, 65-75% carbohydrates and 15-20% dietary fibre. Small millets are more nutritious compared to fine cereals. They contain higher protein, fat and fibre content.
Back2Basics: 2023- the Year of Millets
On March 3, 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
The proposal, moved by India, was supported by 72 countries.
Several events and activities, including conferences and field activities, and the issuing of stamps and coins, are expected as part of the celebrations.
These are aimed at spreading awareness about millets, inspiring stakeholders to improve production and quality, and attracting investments.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended the levy of anti-dumping duty (ADD) on viscose staple fibre imported from Indonesia.
What is Dumping?
Dumping is a process wherein a company exports a product at a price that is significantly lower than the price it normally charges in its home (or its domestic) market.
This is an unfair trade practice which can have a distortive effect on international trade.
Anti-dumping is a measure to rectify the situation arising out of the dumping of goods and its trade distortive effect.
What is Anti-Dumping Duty?
An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.
In order to protect their respective economy, many countries impose duties on products they believe are being dumped in their national market.
In fact, anti-dumping is an instrument for ensuring fair trade and is not a measure of protection per se for the domestic industry.
Such ‘dumped’ products have the potential to undercut local businesses and the local economy.
Anti-dumping duties provide relief to the domestic industry against the injury caused by dumping.
Mechanism in India
The Department of Commerce recommends the anti-dumping duty, provisional or final.
The Department of Revenue in Finance Ministry acts upon the recommendation within three months and imposes such duties.
WTO and Anti-Dumping Duties
The WTO operates a set of international trade rules, including the international regulation of anti-dumping measures.
It does NOT intervene in the activities of companies engaged in dumping.
Instead, it focuses on how governments can—or cannot—react to the practice of dumping.
In general, the WTO agreement permits governments to act against dumping if it causes or threatens material injury to an established domestic industry.
Issues with such duties
Anti-dumping duties have the potential to distort the market.
In a free market, governments cannot normally determine what constitutes a fair market price for any good or service.
Back2Basics: Viscose Fibre
Viscose is a type of rayon. Originally known as artificial silk, in the late 19th century, the term “rayon” came into effect in 1924.
The name “viscose” derived from the way this fibre is manufactured; a viscous organic liquid used to make both rayon and cellophane.
It is the generalised term for a regenerated manufactured fibre, made from cellulose, obtained by the viscose process.
As a manufactured regenerated cellulose fibre, it is neither truly natural (like cotton, wool or silk) nor truly synthetic (like nylon or polyester) – it falls somewhere in between.
Chemically, viscose resembles cotton, but it can also take on many different qualities depending on how it is manufactured.
Scientists are building a sensor network to detect the trends in the water chemistry of Lake Huron, one of the five Great Lakes of North America.
What is the Acidification of water bodies?
Acidification of oceans or freshwater bodies takes place when excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere gets rapidly absorbed into them.
Scientists initially believed this might be a good thing, as it leaves less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
But in the past decade or so, it has been established that absorption of carbon dioxide leads to a lowering of the pH, which makes the water bodies more acidic.
What are Great Lakes?
The Great Lakes are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River.
There are five lakes, which are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario and are in general on or near the Canada–US border.
Hydrologically, lakes Michigan and Huron are a single body joined at the Straits of Mackinac.
By itself, Lake Huron is the world’s third largest freshwater lake, after Lake Superior and Lake Victoria.
The Great Lakes Waterway enables modern travel and shipping by water among the lakes.
Why are they significant?
The Great Lakes contain a fifth of the world’s total freshwater, and is a crucial source of irrigation and transportation.
They also serve as the habitat for more than 3,500 species of plants and animals.
Acidification of Great Lakes
Scientists are developing a system that would be capable of measuring the carbon dioxide and pH levels of the Great Lakes over several years.
It is known that the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has caused the world’s oceans to turn more acidic.
Recently, it has been observed that by 2100, even the Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario — might approach acidity at around the same rate as the oceans.
Researchers hope the data from the Lake Huron project would add to scientific information on the subject.
Consequences of acidification
The Great Lakes are believed to have been born some 20,000 years ago, when the Earth started to warm and water from melting glaciers filled the basins on its surface.
However, this rich ecosphere is under threat as the five lakes would witness a pH decline of 0.29-0.49 pH units — meaning they would become more acidic — by 2100.
This may lead to a decrease in native biodiversity, create physiological challenges for organisms, and permanently alter the structure of the ecosystem, scientists say.
It would also severely impact the hundreds of wooden shipwrecks that are believed to be resting at the bottom of these lakes.
This newscard is an excerpt from the articles published in TH.
Do you know?
The dancing girl from Mohenjo-Daro (c. 2300 – 1750 BCE) is not just the most famous piece of art from the Harappan Civilisation, it is also one of the finest examples of metal art from that period.
But did you know that this world-famous figurine is also the oldest example of a unique metal casting tradition called Dhokra that survives to this day in parts of India?
Dhokra Art
Named after a nomadic tribe called ‘Dhokra Damar’, the art of Dhokra was originally found in the region from Bankura to Dariapur in Bengal, and across the metal-rich regions of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
Today, it is practiced in the tribal belt across present-day Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
The Dhokra artistes first make a clay model out of wax, which is then replaced with molten metal, either brass or bronze, through a lost-wax metal cast.
What is Dhokra?
Dhokra is a metal casted art that uses the ancient lost-wax casting technique.
This art is said to be the first of its kind to use a non-ferrous metal like copper and its alloys – brass (a mix of zinc and copper) or bronze (tin and copper) which do not contain iron.
It uses the process of annealing, where a metal is heated to very high temperatures and allowed to cool slowly.
The casting is done using two kinds of processes – the traditional, hollow-casting method and solid casting. Solid casting is predominant in Telangana, whereas hollow casting is used in Central and Eastern India.
Symbolism of Dhokra
With its roots in ancient civilisations, Dhokra represents a primitive lifestyle and the beliefs of people, going back to the age of hunting.
This is why figures of elephants, owls, horses and tortoises are commonly seen in Dhokra art.
The elephant symbolises wisdom and masculinity; the horse motion; owl prosperity and death; and the tortoise femininity.
In Hindu mythology, these iconic symbols also have stories behind them.
The world is imagined to rest on four elephants, standing on the shell of a tortoise.
The tortoise, considered as an avatar of Lord Vishnu, carries the world on his back, holding up the earth and the sea.
