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Type: Prelims Only

  • Centre cites law to deny medical seats to Ukraine-returnees

    medical

    The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the law does not allow undergraduate medical students, who fled the “war-like situation” in Ukraine, to be accommodated in Indian medical colleges.

    Which laws is the govt talking about?

    • There are no provisions either under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, or the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 to accommodate or transfer medical students.
    • Till now, no permission has been given by the National Medical Commission to transfer or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute/university.

    Why foreign undergraduates are not permitted?

    • Absence of law: The extant regulations in India do not permit migration of students from foreign universities to India.
    • No backdoor entry: The public notice cannot be used as a back door entry into Indian colleges offering undergraduate courses.
    • Merit issue: The students had left for foreign universities for two reasons, poor marks in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and affordability of medical education in foreign countries.
    • High cost: Besides, these students, if admitted in Indian colleges, would again face the problem of affordability.

    Why do Indians go abroad for medical studies?

    • According to estimates from Ukraine, reported in the media, around 18,000 Indian students are in Ukraine (before Operation Ganga).
    • Most of them are pursuing medicine.
    • This war has turned the spotlight on something that has been the trend for about three decades now.

    Preferred countries for a medical degree

    • For about three decades now, Indian students have been heading out to Russia, China, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Philippines to pursue a medical degree.

    Hype of becoming a Doctor

    • Prestige: The desire to study medicine still holds a lot of value in the Indian community (the other is becoming an IAS officer).
    • Shortages of Doctor: In many rural areas, people still look at doctors as god’s incarnate.
    • Rarity of opportunity: The lack of equal opportunities exacerbated by the caste factor in the Indian context, has a great deal of impact on the prestige still associated with being a doctor.
    • Social upliftment ladder: For years, certain communities were denied the opportunities, and finally they do have a chance at achieving significant educational status.

    Why do Indians prefer going abroad?

    • No language barrier: The medium of education for these students is English, a language they are comfortable with.
    • Affordability: The amount spent on living and the medical degree are far more affordable than paying for an MBBS seat in private medical colleges in India.
    • Aesthetics and foreign culture: People are willing to leave their home to study far away in much colder places and with completely alien cultures and food habits.
    • Practice and OPD exposure: It broadens students’ mind and thinking, expose them to a whole range of experiences, and their approach to issues and crises is likely to be far better.

    Doesn’t India have enough colleges?

    (a) More aspirants than seats

    • There are certainly far more MBBS aspirants than there are MBBS seats in India.
    • In NEET 2021, as per a National Testing Agency press release, 16.1 lakh students registered for the exam, 15.4 lakh students appeared for the test, and 8.7 lakh students qualified.
    • As per data from the National Medical Commission (NMC), in 2021-22, there were 596 medical colleges in the country with a total of 88,120 MBBS seats.
    • While the skew is in favour of Government colleges, it is not greatly so, with the number of private medical institutions nearly neck-to-neck with the state-run ones.

    (b) Fees structure

    • That means over 50% of the total seats are available at affordable fees in Government colleges.
    • Add the 50% seats in the private sector that the NMC has mandated must charge only the government college fees.
    • In fully private colleges, the full course fees range from several lakhs to crores.

    (c) Uneven distribution of colleges

    • These colleges are also not distributed evenly across the country, with States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala having many more colleges.

    What about costs?

    • The cost factor on both sides of an MBBS degree is significant.
    • The costs of an MBBS degree in a Government college tot up to a few lakhs of rupees for the full course, but in a private medical college, it can go up to ₹1 crore for the five-year course.
    • In case it is a management seat, capitation fees can inflate the cost by several lakhs again.
    • Whereas, an MBBS course at any foreign medical university in the east and Eastern Europe costs far less (upto ₹30lakh-₹40 lakh).

    Way forward

    • While PM Modi emphasised that more private medical colleges must be set up in the country to aid more people to take up MBBS, medical education experts have called for pause on the aspect.
    • If the aim is to make medicine more accessible to students of the country, the path ahead is not in the private sector, but in the public sector, with the Central and State governments’ involvement.
    • Starting private medical colleges by reducing the strict standards set for establishing institutes may not actually be the solution to this problem, if we think this is a concern.

    Conclusion

    • Creating more medical colleges will be beneficial for the country, if access and availability can be ensured.
    • This will not be possible by resorting to private enterprise only.
    • The State and Central governments can start more medical colleges, as recommended by NITI Aayog, by utilising district headquarters hospitals, and expanding the infrastructure.
    • This way, students from the lower and middle socio-economic rung, who are otherwise not able to access medical seats, will also benefit.

     

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  • Tamil Nadu’s new Breakfast Scheme in Schools

    breakfast

    Tamil Nadu CM has launched the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme for students of Class I to V in government schools.

    CM’s Breakfast Scheme

    • The scheme covers around 1.14 lakh students in 1,545 schools which include 417 municipal corporation schools, 163 municipality schools and 728 taluk and village panchayat-level schools.
    • The inauguration of the scheme marks an important milestone in the State’s history of providing free meals to school students.

    How has the idea evolved?

    (a) Pre-independence

    • In November 1920, the Madras Corporation Council approved a proposal for providing tiffin to the students of a Corporation School at Thousand Lights at a cost not exceeding one anna per student per day.
    • Theagaraya Chetty, the then President of the Corporation and one of the stalwarts of the Justice Party, said the boys studying at the school were poor, which affected the strength of the institution ‘greatly’.
    • The scheme, which was extended to four more schools and facilitated higher enrollment of students.

    (b) Post-independence

    • The concept saw a Statewide application in 1956 when the then CM K. Kamaraj decided to provide free noon meal to poor children in all primary schools across the State.
    • The Budget for 1956-57 contained a provision for supplying mid-day meals to schoolchildren for 200 days a year, initially covering 65,000 students in 1,300 feeding centres.
    • In July 1982, it was left to the then CM MG Ramachandran to extend the programme to children in the 2-5 age group in Anganwadis and those in 5-9 age group in primary schools in rural areas.
    • Subsequently, the scheme now called Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Nutritious Meal Programme — was extended to urban areas as well.
    • Since September 1984, students of standards VI to X have been covered under the scheme.

    Beneficiaries of the programme

    • As of now, there are nearly 7 lakh beneficiaries spread over 43,190 nutritious meal centres.
    • This includes around 3,500 students of National Child Labour Project (NCLP) special schools.
    • Besides, as a consequence of the collaborative implementation of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the nutritious meal programme, around 15.8 lakh children in the age group of 2+ to 5+ years receive nutritious meals.

    Impact on school education

    • Rise in enrolment: After the improved version of the mid-day meal scheme in 1982, the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) at primary level (standards I to V) went up by 10% during July-September, 1982 as compared to the corresponding period in 1981.
    • Girls’ enrolment: The rise in boys’ enrollment was 12% and in the case of girls, 7%, according to a publication brought out by the Tamil Nadu government on the occasion of the launch of the Scheme.
    • Increase in attendance: Likewise, attendance during July-September 1982 rose by 33% over the previous year’s figure.

    Focus areas programme

    • Anaemia is a major health problem in Tamil Nadu, especially among women and children, says the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5’s report.
    • From 50% during the period of the 2015-16 NFHS-4, the prevalence of anaemia in children now went up to 57%.
    • This and many other health issues can be addressed through the combined efforts of the departments of School Education, Public Health and Social Welfare and Women Empowerment.
    • Besides, a continuous and rigorous review of the progress of the scheme and nutritious meal programme should be carried out in a sustained manner.

     

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  • What are the Big Seven Cats?

    We often get confused to differentiate between Cheetah/Bagh/Sher/Puli. The cheetah, which is being re-introduced to India from Africa, is not to be confused with the leopard, which too has spots that look somewhat similar.

    How are all Big Cats differentiated?

    [A] Genus Panthera

    • This is the genus of large wild cats that can roar but can’t purr.
    • Among them, the lion, the leopard, and the jaguar are more closely related, while the other strand has the tiger and the snow leopard.
    • The snow leopard is an exception to the rest of the group in that it can’t roar.

    (1) Tiger (Panthera Tigris)

    Size: 75-300 kg | IUCN status : Endangered

    • Jim Corbett’s “large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage”, the solitary and strongly territorial tiger is the largest of all wild cats and also the earliest Panthera member to exist.
    • Primarily a forest animal, they range from the Siberian taiga to the Sunderban delta.
    • The national animal of India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and South Korea, the tiger was voted the world’s favourite animal ahead of the dog in a 2004 Animal Planet global online poll.

    (2) Lion (Panthera Leo

    Size: 100-250 kg | IUCN status: Vulnerable

    • Native to Africa and Asia, the lion is the most social cat, and lives in groups called prides.
    • They prefer open forests such as scrubland, and adult males have a prominent mane.
    • The lion is arguably the most widely recognised animal symbol in human culture — be it the Ashoka pillar in Sarnath, the main entrance to Buckingham Palace, or the 20th Century Fox and MGM logo.

    (3) Jaguar (Panthera Onca)

    Size: 50-110 kg | IUCN status: Near Threatened

    • The largest cat in the Americas, the Jaguar has the strongest bite force of all wild cats, enabling it to bite directly through the skull of its prey.
    • Melanistic (black) Jaguars are common and are often called black panthers.
    • Jaguar was a powerful motif in the Mayan and Aztec civilisations.

    (4) Leopard (Panthera Pardus)

    Size: 30-90 kg | IUCN status: Vulnerable

    • Similar in appearance to the Jaguar with a rosette patterned coat, the leopard was described by Jim Corbett as “the most beautiful of all animals” for its “grace of movement and beauty of colouring”.
    • The most adaptable of all big cats, they occupy diverse habitats at all altitudes across Africa and Asia.
    • Like black jaguars, melanistic leopards are called black panthers.
    • In some African cultures, leopards are considered to be better hunters than lions.

    (5) Snow leopard (Panthera Uncia)

    Size: 25-55 kg | IUCN status : Vulnerable

    • The ghost of the mountains, this smokey-grey cat lives above the snow line in Central and South Asia.
    • The most elusive of all big cats, it cannot roar, and has the longest tail of them all — which comes in handy for balance while hunting along the cliffs, and also gives warmth when wrapped around the body.
    • The snow leopard is the state animal of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.

    [B] Genus Puma

    • Closely related to the domestic cat, this genus has only one extant species, the cougar.

    Cougar (Puma concolor)

    Size: 40-100 kg | IUCN status: Least Concern

    • The cougar is the second-largest cat in the Americas. (The Jaguar is the largest.)
    • Cougars are also called ‘mountain lion’ and ‘panther’ across their range from the Canadian Yukon to the Southern Andes.
    • Concolor is latin for “of uniform colour”. The Incas designed the city of Cusco in the shape of a cougar.

    [C] Genus Acinonyx

    • This is a unique genus within the cat family, with only one living member, the cheetah.

    Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

    Size: 20-70 kg | IUCN status: Vulnerable

    • The fastest land mammal, the cheetah is the only cat without retractable claws — the grip helps it accelerate faster than any sports car (0-100 km/hr in 3 seconds).
    • Cheetahs are not aggressive towards humans, and they have been tamed since the Sumerian era.
    • They don’t breed well in captivity — picky females play hard to get.
    • Cheetahs are not really big, and they hunt during the day to avoid competing with other big cats.

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  • UNEP launches Green Fins Hub

    fins

    The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has launched the Green Fins Hub, a global digital platform to give sustainable marine tourism a ‘major boost’.

    Green Fins Hub

    • The Green Fins Global Hub will be a first-of-its-kind online support system to motivate scuba operators to improve their daily environmental practices at scale.
    • It aims to help diving and snorkeling operators worldwide to make simple, cost-efficient changes to their daily practices by utilizing tried and tested solutions.
    • It would also help them keep track of their annual improvements and communicate with their communities and customers.

    Membership of Green Fins Hub

    • It will host two types of membership. One would be digital membership available for diving, snorkelling and liveaboard operations globally.
    • Throughout every year of membership, operators will receive environmental scores based on a detailed online self-evaluation and progress made on their action plans.
    • The Certified Members will continue to be assessed annually and trained in person at their operation.
    • The platform will be for operators around the world to raise industry needs, discuss environmental issues and share lessons and ideas with like-minded industry leaders, non-profits and governments.

     

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  • Centre adds 4 new tribes to Scheduled Tribes (ST) List

    The Union Cabinet under the chairmanship of PM has approved the addition of four tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST), including those from Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.

    Which tribes are we talking about?

    1. Hatti tribe in the Trans-Giri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh
    2. Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes of Tamil Nadu and
    3. Binjhia tribe in Chhattisgarh, which was listed as ST in Jharkhand and Odisha but not in Chhattisgarh

    Other tribes in news

    • The Cabinet also approved ‘Betta-Kuruba’ as a synonym for the Kadu Kuruba tribe In Karnataka.

    Who are the Scheduled Tribes?

    • The term ‘Scheduled Tribes’ first appeared in the Constitution of India.
    • Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”.
    • Article 342 prescribes procedure to be followed in the matter of specification of scheduled tribes.
      • Article 342(1) empowers the President of India to specify, by public notification, the tribes or tribal communities deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in each state and union territory.
    • Among the tribal groups, several have adapted to modern life but there are tribal groups who are more vulnerable.
    • The Dhebar Commission (1973) created a separate category “Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs)” which was renamed in 2006 as “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)”.

    How are STs notified?

    • The first specification of Scheduled Tribes in relation to a particular State/ Union Territory is by a notified order of the President, after consultation with the State governments concerned.
    • These orders can be modified subsequently only through an Act of Parliament.

    Status of STs in India

    • The Census 2011 has revealed that there are said to be 705 ethnic groups notified as Scheduled Tribes (STs).
    • Over 10 crore Indians are notified as STs, of which 1.04 crore live in urban areas.
    • The STs constitute 8.6% of the population and 11.3% of the rural population.

    What is the reason for special provisions for the Scheduled Tribes in the constitution of India? Are these provisions successful in ameliorating their conditions? (250 Words)

     

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  • [pib] Indian Navy participates in Exercise Kakadu hosted by Australia

    INS Satpura and a P8 I Maritime Patrol Aircraft of the Indian Navy reached Darwin in Australia on for participation in the multinational Exercise Kakadu – 2022, hosted by the Royal Australian Navy.

    Exercise KAKADU

    • Exercise KAKADU, which started in 1993, is the premier multilateral regional maritime engagement exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and supported by the Australian Air Force.
    • The exercise is held biennially in Darwin and the Northern Australian Exercise Areas (NAXA).
    • It derives its name from Kakadu National Park, which is a protected area in the northern territory of Australia, 171 km south-east of Darwin
    • During the exercise, professional exchanges in harbour and diverse range of activities at sea, including complex surface, sub-surface and air operations would enable sharing of best practices and honing of operational skills.

    India’s presence at the exercise

    • Indian Navy’s participation in KAKADU provides an excellent opportunity to engage with regional partners and undertake multinational maritime activities ranging from constabulary operations to high-end maritime warfare in a combined environment
    • It is aimed at enhancing interoperability and developing of common understanding of procedures for maritime operations gaining importance with the Indo-Pacific narrative.

    Also read:

    [Prelims Spotlight] Important Submarines and Naval Ships

     

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  • What it will take to fulfill India’s Solar Power Dream?

    From less than 10 MW in 2010, India has added significant PV capacity over the past decade, achieving over 50 GW by 2022.

    Solar energy in India

    • Solar photovoltaics (PV) has driven India’s push towards the adoption of cleaner energy generation technologies.
    • India is targeting about 500 GW by 2030, of renewable energy deployment, out of which ~280 GW is expected from solar PV.
    • This necessitates the deployment of nearly 30 GW of solar capacity every year until 2030.

    Key components

    • A typical solar PV value chain consists of first fabricating polysilicon ingots which need to be transformed into thin Silicon wafers that are needed to manufacture the PV mini-modules.
    • The mini-modules are then assembled into market-ready and field-deployable modules.

    Various challenges

    There are challenges that need to be overcome for the sustainability of the PV economy.

    (1) PV Modules

    • Indian solar deployment or installation companies depend heavily on imports.
    • It currently imports 100% of silicon wafers and around 80% of cells even at the current deployment levels.
    • India currently does not have enough module and cell manufacturing capacity.
    • India’s current solar module manufacturing capacity is limited to ~15 GW per year.
    • The demand-supply gap widens as we move up the value chain — for example, India only produces ~3.5 GW of cells currently.
    • India has no manufacturing capacity for solar wafers and polysilicon ingots.

    (2) Field deployment

    • Also, out of the 15 GW of module manufacturing capacity, only 3-4 GW of modules are technologically competitive and worthy of deployment in grid-based projects.
    • India remains dependent on the import of solar modules for field deployment.

    (3) Size and technology

    • Most of the Indian industry is currently tuned to handling M2 wafer size, which is roughly 156 x 156 mm2, while the global industry is already moving towards M10 and M12 sizes, which are 182 x 182 mm2 and 210 x 210 mm2 respectively.
    • The bigger size has an advantage in terms of silicon cost per wafer, as this effectively means lower loss of silicon during ingot to wafer processing.
    • In terms of cell technology, most of the manufacturing still uses Al-BSF technology, which can typically give efficiencies of ~18-19% at the cell level and ~16-17% at the module level.
    • By contrast, cell manufacturing worldwide has moved to PERC (22-23%), HJT(~24%), TOPCON (23-24%) and other newer technologies, yielding module efficiency of >21%.

    (4) Land issue

    • Producing more solar power for the same module size means more solar power from the same land area.
    • Land, the most expensive part of solar projects, is scarce in India — and Indian industry has no choice but to move towards newer and superior technologies as part of expansion plans.

    (5) Raw materials supply

    • There is a huge gap on the raw material supply chain side as well.
    • Silicon wafer, the most expensive raw material, is not manufactured in India.
    • India will have to work on technology tie-ups to make the right grade of silicon for solar cell manufacturing — and since >90% of the world’s solar wafer manufacturing currently happens in China.
    • It is not clear how and where India will get the technology.
    • Other key raw materials such as metallic pastes of silver and aluminium to form the electrical contacts too, are almost 100% imported.
    • Thus, India is more of an assembly hub than a manufacturing

    (6) Lack of investment

    • India has hardly invested in this sector which can help the industry to try and test the technologies in a cost-effective manner.

    Current govt policy

    • The government has identified this gap, and is rolling out various policy initiatives to push and motivate the industry to work towards self-reliance in solar manufacturing, both for cells and modules.
    • Key initiatives include:
    1. 40% duty on the import of modules and
    2. 25% duty on the import of cells, and
    3. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to support manufacturing capex
    4. Compulsion to procure modules only from an approved list of manufacturers (ALMM) for projects that are connected to state/ central government grids
    5. Only India-based manufacturers have been approved

    Way forward

    • India’s path to become a manufacturing hub for the same requires more than just putting some tax barriers and commercial incentives in the form of PLI schemes, etc.
    • It will warrant strong industry-academia collaboration in an innovative manner to start developing home-grown technologies which could, in the short-term.
    • It needs to work with the industry to provide them with trained human resource, process learnings, root-cause analysis through right testing and, in the long term, develop India’s own technologies.
    • High-end technology development requires substantial investment in several clusters which operate in industry-like working and management conditions, appropriate emoluments, and clear deliverables.

     

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  • Who was Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker?

    Arattupuzha

    A recently-released Malayalam film Pathonpatham Noottandu (‘Nineteenth Century’) is based on the life of Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker, a social reformer from the Ezhava community in Kerala who lived in the 19th century.

    Who was Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker?

    • Born into a well-off family of merchants in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, Panicker was one of the most influential figures in the reformation movement in the state.
    • He challenged the domination of upper castes or ‘Savarnas’ and brought about changes in the lives of both men and women.
    • The social reform movement in Kerala in the 19th century led to the large-scale subversion of the existing caste hierarchy and social order in the state.
    • Panicker was murdered by a group of upper-caste men in 1874 at the age of 49. This makes him the ‘first martyr’ of the Kerala renaissance.

    What was Panicker’s role in initiating social reforms?

    • Panicker is credited with building two temples dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, in which members of all castes and religions were allowed entry.
    • One was built in his own village Arattupuzha in 1852, and one in Thanneermukkom in 1854, another village in the Alappuzha district.
    • Some of his most significant contributions were in protesting for the rights of women belonging to Kerala’s backward communities.
    • In 1858, he led the Achippudava Samaram strike at Kayamkulam in Alappuzha.
    • This strike aimed to earn women belonging to oppressed groups the right to wear a lower garment that extended beyond the knees.
    • In 1859, this was extended into the Ethappu Samaram, the struggle for the right to wear an upper body cloth by women belonging to backward castes.
    • In 1860, he led the Mukkuthi Samaram at Pandalam in the Pathanamthitta district, for the rights of lower-caste women to wear ‘mukkuthi’ or nose-ring, and other gold ornaments.
    • These struggles played an important role in challenging the social order and in raising the dignity of women belonging to the lower strata of society in public life.

    Other work

    • Apart from issues related to women, Panicker also led the first-ever strike by agricultural labourers in Kerala, the Karshaka Thozhilali Samaram, which was successful.
    • He also established the first Kathakali Yogam for the Ezhava community in 1861, which led to a Kathakali performance by Ezhavas and other backward communities, another first for them.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. The Shri Narayan Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) Movement(1902-03) was related to which of the following community?

    a) Mopilla Community

    b) South Indian Tea Planters

    c) Ezhava Community in Kerala

    d) North Eastern Tea Planters

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”m2r1vizxor” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

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  • What is National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM)?

    The latest National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) released September 13, 2022 by the Union health ministry added 34 new medicines and dropped 26 old ones from the previous list.

    What is NLEM?

    • As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), Essential Medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population.
    • Ministry of Health and Family Welfare hence prepared and released the first National List of Essential Medicines of India in 1996 consisting of 279 medicines.
    • The list is made with consideration to disease prevalence, efficacy, safety and comparative cost-effectiveness of the medicines.
    • Such medicines are intended to be available in adequate amounts, in appropriate dosage forms and strengths with assured quality.
    • They should be available in such a way that an individual or community can afford.

    NLEM in India

    • Drugs listed under NLEM — also known as scheduled drugs — will be cheaper because the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) caps medicine prices and changes only based on wholesale price index-based inflation.
    • The list includes anti-infectives medicines to treat diabetes such as insulin — HIV, tuberculosis, cancer, contraceptives, hormonal medicines and anaesthetics.
    • They account for 17-18 per cent of the estimated Rs 1.6-trillion domestic pharmaceutical market.
    • Companies selling non-scheduled drugs can hike prices by up to 10 per cent every year.
    • Typically, once NLEM is released, the department of pharmaceuticals under the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers adds them in the Drug Price Control Order, after which NPPA fixes the price.

    Significance of EML

    • Drawing an essential medicines list (EML) is expected to result in better quality of medical care, better management of medicines and cost-effective use of health care resources.
    • This is especially important for a resource limited country like India.
    • The list of essential medicines is intended to have a positive impact on the availability and rational use of medicines.

    Also read

    What is the NPPA’s role in fixing drug prices?

     

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  • Scientists remain sceptical about how Liquid Nano Urea benefits crops

    Liquid Nano Urea, a fertilizer patented and sold by the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO), has been approved by the government for commercial use because of its potential to substantially reduce the import bill, but several experts have questioned the science underlying its efficacy.

    What is Liquid Nano Urea (LNU)?

    • Urea is chemical nitrogen fertiliser, white in colour, which artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants.
    • LNU is essentially urea in the form of a nanoparticle.
    • It is sprayed directly on the leaves and gets absorbed by the plant.
    • Fertilisers in nano form provide a targeted supply of nutrients to crops, as they are absorbed by the stomata, pores found on the epidermis of leaves.
    • According to IFFCO, liquid nano urea contains 4 per cent total nitrogen (w/v) evenly dispersed in water.
    • The size of a nano nitrogen particle varies from 20-50 nm. (A nanometre is equal to a billionth of a metre.)

    Using LNU

    • The liquid nano urea produced by IFFCO Limited comes in a half-litre bottle priced at Rs 240, and carries no burden of subsidy currently.
    • By contrast, a farmer pays around Rs 300 for a 50-kg bag of heavily subsidised urea.
    • According to IFFCO, a bottle of the nano urea can effectively replace at least one bag of urea.

    How efficient is LNU?

    • While conventional urea has an efficiency of about 25 per cent, the efficiency of liquid nano urea can be as high as 85-90 per cent.
    • Conventional urea fails to have the desired impact on crops as it is often applied incorrectly, and the nitrogen in it is vaporized or lost as a gas.
    • A lot of nitrogen is also washed away during irrigation.
    • Liquid nano urea has a shelf life of a year, and farmers need not be worried about “caking” when it comes in contact with moisture.

    Significance of LNU

    • This patented product is expected to not only substitute imported urea, but to also produce better results in farms.
    • Apart from reducing the country’s subsidy bill, it is aimed at reducing the unbalanced and indiscriminate use of conventional urea.
    • It will help increase crop productivity, and reduce soil, water, and air pollution.

    Why in news now?

    • Plants need nitrogen to make protein and they source almost all of it from soil bacteria which live in a plant’s roots and have the ability to break down atmospheric nitrogen, or that from chemicals such as urea into a form usable by plants.
    • Chemically packaged urea is 46% nitrogen, which means a 45-kg sack contains about 20 kg of nitrogen.
    • Contrastingly, nano urea sold in 500-ml bottles has only 4% nitrogen (or around 20 g).
    • How this can compensate for the kilograms of nitrogen normally required puzzles scientists.

     

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