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Type: Prelims Only

  • Sea sparkle: Bloom of Noctiluca Scintillans

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Bioluminescence, Noctiluca Scintillans

    Mains level: Not Much

    The blooms of Noctiluca Scintillans, commonly known as “sea sparkle” are being witnessed along the coasts of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

    A stand-alone species being mentioned in the news for the first time find their way into the prelims. Note this down.

    Noctiluca Scintillans

    • Scintillans is a bioluminescent specie that brightens the seawater during the night.
    • It grazes on other micro-organisms such as larvae, fish eggs, and diatoms. But the unicellular phytoplankton that lives inside it can photosynthesize, turning sunlight into energy.
    • They help their host cell survive even when food was scarce.
    • Thus, N. Scintillans acts as both a plant and an animal

    Threats posed

    • According to marine experts, the phenomenon is an indicator of climate change.
    • While smaller blooms may be harmless, slow-moving larger blooms may have an impact on deep-sea fishes.
    • The toxic blooms of N. Scintillans were linked to massive fish and marine invertebrate kills.
    • Though the species does not produce a toxin, it was found to accumulate toxic levels of ammonia, which is then excreted into the surrounding waters, possibly acting as the killing agent in blooms.
    • They have displaced microscopic algae called diatoms, which form the basis of the marine food chain. This has deprived food for the planktivorous fish.

    Back2Basics: Bioluminescence

    • It is the property of a living organism to produce and emit light.
    • Animals, plants, fungi and bacteria show bioluminescence. A remarkable diversity of marine animals and microbes are able to produce their own light.
    • It is found in many marine organisms such as bacteria, algae, jellyfish, worms, crustaceans, sea stars, fish and sharks.
    • Luminescence is generally higher in deep-living and planktonic organisms than in shallow species.

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  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    What is Federated Learning?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: IoT , AI

    Mains level: AI and its applications

    An improvement in a Machine Learning (ML) model, called ‘federated learning’, is said to enable companies to develop new ways of collecting anonymous data without compromising their privacy.

    Data privacy is the right of a citizen to have control over how personal information is collected and used. Data protection is a subset Right of Privacy under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

    What is ‘federated learning’?

    • Federated learning is an ML method used to train an algorithm across multiple decentralised devices or servers holding data samples.
    • It doesn’t exchange data with the devices, meaning there is no central dataset or server that stores the information.
    • Standard ML models require all data to be centralised in a single server. Implementation of federated learning eliminates the need for maintaining a storage hub.
    • The term was first introduced in a 2016 Google study titled ‘Communication-efficient learning of deep networks from decentralized data.’
    • Google emphasised mobile phones and tablets, stating that modern devices contain special features like speech recognition and image models that can store large amounts of data.
    • Since then, Google has used the technique is various products, including Gboard, which provides text and phrase suggestions to the keyboard.

    How this works

    • Federated learning aims to train an algorithm, like deep neural networks, on multiple local datasets contained in local nodes, without explicitly exchanging data.
    • The general principle involves simply exchanging parameters between these nodes. Parameters include a number of federated learning rounds, the total number of nodes, and learning rate.
    • The distinct advantage of the model is its ability to reduce privacy and security risks by limiting the attack surface to only the device, rather than the device and the cloud, Google stated in the study.

    Why need such technology?

    • Smart home devices like speakers and smartwatches collect and share data with other devices and systems over the network.
    • These Internet of Things (IoT) devices are equipped with sensors and software that store a user’s private information like body measurements and location.
    • This large chunk of stored data is used by the device makers to improve their products and services.

    Applications

    • Federated learning is said to have application in healthcare, where hospitals and pharmaceutical companies can exchange data for treating diseases without sharing private clinical information.

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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    One nation One election

    Prelims Only | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Federalism

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not Much

    Mains level: Issues with simultaneous elections

    Prime Minister once again raised the pitch for “One Nation, One Election” and a single voter list for all to prevent the impact of the model code of conduct on development works due to frequent elections.

    Try this question:

    Q.Discuss how a common electoral roll and simultaneous elections are ways to save the enormous amount of effort and expenditure on Elections in India. Also discuss the centralizing tendency behind the idea.

    Elections in India

    • Currently, elections to the state assemblies and the Lok Sabha are held separately — that is whenever the incumbent government’s five-year term ends or whenever it is dissolved due to various reasons.
    • This applies to both the state legislatures and the Lok Sabha. The terms of Legislative Assemblies and the Lok Sabha may not synchronize with one another.
    • For instance, Rajasthan faced elections in late 2018, whereas Tamil Nadu will go to elections only in 2021.

    Simultaneous Elections

    • But the idea of “One Nation, One Election” envisages a system where elections to all states and the Lok Sabha will have to be held simultaneously.
    • This will involve the restructuring of the Indian election cycle in a manner that elections to the states and the centre synchronize.
    • This would mean that the voters will cast their vote for electing members of the LS and the state assemblies on a single day, at the same time (or in a phased manner as the case may be).

    Birth of the Idea: A backgrounder

    • Simultaneous elections are not new to India. They were the norm until 1967.
    • But following dissolution of some Legislative Assemblies in 1968 and 1969 and that of the Lok Sabha in December 1970, elections to State Assemblies and Parliament have been held separately.
    • The idea of reverting to simultaneous polls was mooted in the annual report of the Election Commission in 1983.
    • The Law Commission’s Report also referred to it in 1999.
    • After PM floated the idea once again in 2016, the NITI Aayog prepared a working paper on the subject in January 2017.

    What are the proposals under it?

    There were two proposals to conduct elections synchronization in two batches.

    • One proposal was to make the shift to simultaneous polls in a phased manner, where general elections, of few States and UT may be synchronised in 2019.
    • For such a synchronization to happen, besides political consensus and extension of term up to six months in some states, amendments to the Constitution have to be made.
    • Elections to the remaining States and UTs with will be synchronised by the end of 2021.
    • Thereafter, elections to the Lok Sabha, all the State Legislative Assemblies and Union Territories (with legislatures) will be held simultaneously from 2024.

    Advantages of simultaneous elections

    • Reduce cost: The cost of an election has two components – one, expenditure incurred by the Election Commission and two, expenditure incurred by the political parties. A large number of government employees and public buildings are diverted from their regular responsibilities for election duties. Supporters of the simultaneous elections argue that it will reduce election expenditure in terms of finance and reduce diversion of human resources for election duties.
    • Reduce disruption due to MCC: Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into operation during election season. MCC is seen as an obstacle to the government service delivery mechanism. Simultaneous elections may reduce such disruption.
    • Reduce populism: During elections, political convenience takes precedence over public interest. To lure voters, political parties concede to popular demands without any consideration to public interest. Simultaneous elections reduce such opportunity for political parties.
    • National prespective: Simultaneous election promotes national perspective over the regional perspective. This is important for the unity of the country.
    • Strengthen National parties: Since it promotes national perspective, simultaneous elections strengthen national parties. This reduces mushrooming growth of political parties based on narrow vote bank politics.
    • Strengthens federalism: Simultaneous elections bring States on par with the Center. If the elections are to be held simultaneously once in five years, the elected state governments cannot be dismissed easily. This reduces the anomalies created by the Article 356 (President’s Rule) of the Indian constitution and hence, it strengthens federalism.
    • Stability: The simultaneous election once in five years provides stability to the governments. It allows the government to take difficult and harsh decision in larger public interest.

    Arguments against simultaneous elections

    • No guarantee that expenditure of the political parties will reduce: Simultaneous elections may reduce the expenditure incurred by the Election Commission. But there is no guarantee that expenditure of the political parties will reduce. Political parties may spend entire fund at once rather than in phases.
    • Reduce importance of state elections: Center and States are equal and sovereign within their jurisdiction. Simultaneous elections may reduce the importance of state elections. Thus it affects the concept of federalism.
    • Violates Article 83(2) and Article 172 : Article 83(2) and Article 172 of the Constitution requires that the Lok Sabha and State legislatures be in existence for five years from the date of its first meeting, “unless dissolved earlier”. Simultaneous elections ignore this phrase, as there would be no opportunity to dissolve Lok Sabha or State Assemblies.
    • Negates NCM: A government can be in power as long as it enjoys the confidence of Parliament. Simultaneous elections can work only if governments last for a fixed tenure of five years regardless of confidence of Parliament. It negates the concept of ‘no confidence motion’ – an important tool for legislative control over the executive.
    • Keep Government on toes: Elections are an important part of representative democracy. Simultaneous elections with fixed tenure of five years curtail people’s right to express their confidence or displeasure on the government.
    • Ignores diversity: Simultaneous elections will relegate local issues or issues of state importance to the background. This completely ignores the diversity of the country.
    • Logistical challenge: Holding simultaneous election once in five years may also face logistical challenges. For the free and fair conduct of the elections, security forces need to be deployed in large numbers. Given the current strength of security personnel, this may be a challenging task.

    Way forward

    • There needs to be a consensus and all hands on the deck to see whether the country suits for simultaneous elections.
    • All political parties should at least cooperate in debating this issue, once the debate starts, the public opinion can be taken into consideration.
    • India being a mature democracy, can then follows the outcome of the deliberation.

    Shekhawat solution

    • The former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat proposed a solution. He called for a review of provisions of the no-confidence motion.
    • He suggested that no-confidence motion must mandatorily be accompanied by an alternative government formation plan. This prevents premature dissolution of Lok Sabha on account of political instability.
    • But critics point out that, this solution will take away people’s right to elect or dismiss a government.

    Conclusion

    • The constitution of India has essentially prescribed a federal structure of state governance.
    • As we are aware that there are several levels of government such as Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha besides, state governments, Municipal Corporations and the Panchayats, which are forms of local governance.
    • As a result the entire power is not concentrated with one government.
    • But One Nation, One Election can lead to such concentration of power in a single hand.
    • So the new government needs to ensure such vast power is not gathered by a single domain through One Nation, One Election.

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  • Capital Markets: Challenges and Developments

    What are Negative-Yield Bonds?

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Investment Models

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Negative-Yield Bonds

    Mains level: Not Much

    China recently sold negative-yield debt for the first time, and this saw high demand from investors across Europe.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?

    (a) Certificate of Deposit

    (b) Commercial Paper

    (c) Promissory Note

    (d) Participatory Note

    What are Negative-Yield Bonds?

    • These are debt instruments that offer to pay the investor a maturity amount lower than the purchase price of the bond.
    • These are generally issued by central banks or governments, and investors pay interest to the borrower to keep their money with them.

    Why do investors buy them?

    • Negative-yield bonds attract investments during times of stress and uncertainty as investors look to protect their capital from significant erosion.
    • At a time when the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic and interest rates in developed markets across Europe are much lower.
    • Hence, investors are looking for relatively better-yielding debt instruments to safeguard their interests.

    Why is there a huge demand?

    • While Europe, the US and other parts of the world are facing a second wave of Covid-19 cases, China has demonstrated that it has controlled the spread of the pandemic and is therefore seen as a more stable region.
    • Many feel that European investors are also looking to increase their exposure in China, and hence there is a huge demand for these bonds.
    • The fact that the 10-year and 15-year bonds are offering positive returns is a big attraction at a time when interest rates in Europe have dropped significantly.
    • As against minus —0.15% yield on the 5-year bond issued by China, the yields offered in safe European bonds are much lower, between –0.5% and —0.75%.

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  • International Space Agencies – Missions and Discoveries

    Chang’e-5 Lunar Probe

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Chang E probe

    Mains level: Various lunar missions and their success

    China is preparing to launch an unmanned spacecraft to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.What do you understand by the term Aitken basin:

    (a) It is a desert in the southern Chile which is known to be the only location on earth where no rainfall takes place

    (b) It is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon

    (c) It is a Pacific coast basin, which is known to house large amounts of oil and gas

    (d) It is a deep hyper saline anoxic basin where no aquatic animals are found

    Chang’e-5 Probe

    • The Chang’e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, aims to shovel up lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface.
    • The goal of the mission is to land in the Mons Rumker region of the moon, where it will operate for one lunar day, which is two weeks long.
    • It will collect 2 kg of surface material from a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum — or “Ocean of Storms” — which consist of vast lava plain.
    • The original mission, planned for 2017, was delayed due to an engine failure in China’s Long March 5 launch rocket.
    • If successful, China will be only the third country to have retrieved samples from the moon, following the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.

    Significance of the mission

    • As per the Lunar and Planetary Institute, rocks found on the Moon are older than any that have been found on Earth and therefore they are valuable in providing information about the Earth and the Moon’s shared history.
    • Lunar samples can help to unravel some important questions in lunar science and astronomy, including the Moon’s age, its formation, the similarities and differences between the Earth and the Moon’s geologic features.
    • For instance, the shape, size, arrangement and composition of individual grains and crystals in a rock can tell scientists about its history, while the radioactive clock can tell them the rock’s age.
    • Further, tiny cracks in rocks can tell them about the radiation history of the Sun in the last 100,000 years.

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  • International Space Agencies – Missions and Discoveries

    Sentinel-6 Satellite

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Sentinel 6

    Mains level: Sea level rise and climate change

    The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, designed to monitor oceans, was launched from the in California.

    Try this MCQ:

    The Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS) Mission recently seen in news is aimed at observing:

    (a)Microgravity changes

    (b)Sea level rise

    (c)Cosmic radiation

    (d)Space debris

    Sentinel-6 Satellite

    • This is a part of the next mission dedicated to measuring changes in the global sea level.
    • It has been named after Dr Michael Freilich, who was the Director of NASA’s Earth Science Division from 2006-2019 and passed away in August this year.

    What is the mission?

    • The mission, called the Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS) mission, is designed to measure the height of the ocean, which is a key component in understanding how the Earth’s climate is changing.
    • The spacecraft consists of two satellites, the other, called Sentinel-6B, to be launched in 2025.
    • It has been developed jointly by the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, and France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).

    What will the satellite do?

    • The satellite will ensure the continuity of sea-level observations into the fourth decade and will provide measurements of global sea-level rise.
    • Since 1992, high-precision satellite altimeters have helped scientists understand how the ocean stores and distributes heat, water and carbon in the climate system.
    • Essentially, the satellite will send pulses to the Earth’s surface and measure how long they take to return to it, which will help scientists measure the sea surface height.
    • It will also measure water vapour along this path and find its position using GPS and ground-based lasers.

    Significance of the mission

    • As per NASA, it is possible to observe the height of the oceans on a global scale and monitor critical changes in ocean currents and heat storage only from space.
    • Data from satellites such as Sentinel-6 help scientists foresee the effects of the changing oceans on the climate.
    • Further, in order to measure and track changes in the oceanic heat budget, scientists need to know the ocean currents and heat storage of the oceans, which can be determined from the height of the sea surface.

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  • Indian Navy Updates

    Exercise SITMEX-20

    Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Exercise SITMEX

    Mains level: NA

    The second edition of the India, Thailand and Singapore trilateral naval exercise SITMEX-20 has concluded in the Andaman Sea.

    Exercise SITMEX-20

    • The SITMEX series of exercises are conducted to enhance mutual inter-operability and imbibing best practices between IN, Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and Royal Thai Navy (RTN).
    • The first edition of SITMEX, hosted by Indian Navy, was conducted off Port Blair in September 2019.
    • The 2020 edition of the exercise is being hosted by RSN.
    • The maritime drill witnessed a variety of exercises including naval manoeuvres, surface warfare exercises and weapon firings.
    • Besides improving inter-operability, SITMEX series of exercise also aims to strengthen mutual confidence and develop common understanding and procedures towards enhancing the overall maritime security in the region.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India – EU

    Places in news: Luxembourg

    India MappingPrelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Location of Luxembourg

    Mains level: Not Much

    Prime Minister has pitched for strengthening ties to further ramp up economic engagement between India and Luxembourg.

    Mark the location of Luxembourg. Since it is a landlocked country, there can be a question asking its bordering states.

    Luxembourg

    • Luxembourg is a small European country, landlocked by Belgium, France and Germany.
    • It’s mostly rural, with dense Ardennes forest and nature parks in the north, rocky gorges of the Mullerthal region in the east and the Moselle river valley in the southeast.
    • Its capital, Luxembourg City, is famed for its fortified medieval old town perched on sheer cliffs

    Why Luxembourg?

    • Luxembourg is one of the most important financial centres globally.
    • Several Indian companies have raised capital by issuing Global Depositary Receipts at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
    • Luxembourg-based investment funds hold substantial banking and asset management market share in portfolio investments in India.
    • It is also the third-largest source of Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPI) in India.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

    China’s use of ‘Microwave Weapons’

    Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Border Area Security Challenges

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Microwave weapons

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Indian Army has rejected a report in the British daily newspaper which claimed that the Chinese army had used “microwave weapons” to drive Indian soldiers away from their positions in eastern Ladakh.

    The use of non-lethal weapons for violence and mob control is a contested issue. Can you suggest some alternatives to it apart from the use of water cannon and teargas?

    What are “Microwave Weapons”?

    • Microwave weapons are supposed to be a type of direct energy weapons, which aim highly focused energy in the form of sonic, laser, or microwaves, at a target.
    • It uses a focussed beam of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation to heat the water in a human target’s skin, causing pain and discomfort.
    • In a microwave oven, an electron tube called a magnetron produces electromagnetic waves (microwaves) that bounce around the metal interior of the appliance, and are absorbed by the food.
    • The microwaves agitate the water molecules in the food, and their vibration produces heat that cooks the food.
    • Food with high water content cooks faster in a microwave often than drier foods.

    Which countries have these “microwave weapons”?

    • A number of countries are thought to have developed these weapons to target both humans and electronic systems.
    • According to a report, China had first put on display its “microwave weapon”, called Poly WB-1, at an air show in 2014.
    • The United States has also developed a prototype microwave-style weapon, which it calls the “Active Denial System”.

    How dangerous are these weapons?

    • Concerns have been raised on whether they can damage the eyes, or have a carcinogenic impact in the long term.
    • It is not clear yet how China intends to use such a weapon, and whether it can kill or cause lasting damage to human targets.

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  • Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

    What is mRNA vaccine?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: mRNA

    Mains level: Vaccination challenges for coronavirus

    The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines which recently announced their success use the same technology, based on messenger RNA, or mRNA.

    Try this PYQ first:

    Q.‘RNA interference (RNAi)’ technology has gained popularity in the last few years. Why?

    1. It is used in developing gene silencing therapies.
    2. It can be used in developing therapies for the treatment of cancer.
    3. It can be used to develop hormone replacement therapies.
    4. It can be used to produce crop plants that are resistant to viral pathogens.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1, 2 and 4

    (b) 2 and 3

    (c) 1 and 3

    (d) 1 and 4 only

    What is mRNA?

    • Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a single-stranded RNA (Ribo Nucleic Acid) molecule that is complementary to one of the DNA strands of a gene.
    • The mRNA is an RNA version of the gene that leaves the cell nucleus and moves to the cytoplasm where proteins are made.
    • During protein synthesis, an organelle called a ribosome moves along the mRNA, reads its base sequence, and uses the genetic code to translate each three-base triplet, or codon, into its corresponding amino acid.

    What is the mRNA vaccine?

    • Such vaccines make use of the messenger RNA molecules that tell the body’s cells what proteins to build.
    • The mRNA, in this case, is coded to tell the cells to recreate the spike protein of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19.
    • It is the spike protein — which appears as spikes on the surface of the coronavirus — that initiates the process of infection; it allows the virus to penetrate cells, after which it goes on to replicate.
    • A coronavirus vaccine based on mRNA, once injected into the body, will instruct the body’s cells to create copies of the spike protein.
    • In turn, this is expected to prompt the immune cells to create antibodies to fight it.
    • These antibodies will remain in the blood and fight the real virus if and when it infects the human body.

    Back2Basics: Ribo Nucleic Acid (RNA)

    • RNA is an important biological macromolecule that is present in all biological cells.
    • It is principally involved in the synthesis of proteins, carrying the messenger instructions from DNA, which itself contains the genetic instructions required for the development and maintenance of life.
    • In some viruses, RNA, rather than DNA, carries genetic information.
    • The type of RNA dictates the function that this molecule will have within the cell.
    • Aside from the coding region of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that will be translated into proteins, other cellular RNA elements are involved in different processes.

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