InstaLinks : help you think beyond the issue but relevant to the issue from UPSC prelims and Mains exam point of view. These linkages provided in this ‘hint’ format help you frame possible questions in your mind that might arise(or an examiner might imagine) from each current event. InstaLinks also connect every issue to their static or theoretical background. This helps you study a topic holistically and add new dimensions to every current event to help you think analytically
1. Organic fertiliser: A must for the next green revolution
2. How the government is trying to control Big Tech
3. IMF’s recommendation to India
7. Maa Bharati Ke Sapoot website
8. Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) test
Syllabus: Issues related to poverty and hunger, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection of vulnerable sections of society etc
Directions: The report is important and often Indian government has disputed its findings.
Context: India ranks 107 out of 121 countries (under the “serious category”) on the Global Hunger Index released by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
Reasons for the fallout globally:
Some Related Initiatives by India for reducing hunger:
The GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger. Zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. Each set of GHI scores uses data from a 5-year period. The 2022 GHI scores are calculated using data from 2017 through 2021.
Which of the following reports is/are published by the World Economic Forum(WEF)?
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Syllabus Major crop cropping patterns in various parts of the country.
Directions: This Article has been taken from Down to Earth. It highlights the potential of India to become an organic fertiliser hub. Make short notes on organic farming/natural farming.
Context: With the right policy interventions, India can become the hub of organic fertiliser production
The penetration of organic fertilisers is low: The proportion of organic fertilisers of the overall fertiliser consumption was only 0.34 per cent for 2019-20.
Potentials of organic fertilisers in India:
Why India needs to promote production of organic fertlisers?
SATAT Scheme: Bio-compressed natural gas (bio-CNG) and solid organic manure or digestate can be produced in large quantities under the SATAT programme, under which more than 5,000 projects have been started across the country by the industry.
Since organic manure can be improved with the use of bio fertilisers to meet nutrient requirements, both biofertilizers and organic manure have the potential to eliminate the usage of synthetic fertilisers completely.
Q. Sikkim is the first ‘Organic State’ in India. What are the ecological and economical benefits of an Organic State? (UPSC Mains 2018)
Q. Discuss the Fertilizer woes in Indian agriculture. Do you think Indian farmers can reduce urea use by half by 2022? Comment.
Syllabus Science and Technology/ Internal Security/Governance
Directions: Although the article was big, only important points are being provided here. You can use it for value addition.
How government is trying to control BigTech?
Thus, by imposing such onerous regulations, these bills seek to tilt the balance of power rather than create a level playing field. And in all of this, a few domestic players stand to benefit the most.
Q. Social media needs regulations but not to the extent that it is difficult for them to do business in India. Comment. (10M)
As the world fights climate change and the exploitation of nature, countries like Ecuador, Bolivia and New Zealand have awarded legal rights to natural entities.
A compelling shift from competition to cooperation between humans and living systems for future survival is currently an underexplored area, with the question of how India is preparing for the “bio age” still remaining.
Context: The Supreme Court asked the government whether the electoral bond system reveals the source of money pumped in to fund political parties.
Two other important and interconnected issues in the petition:
Context: Karnataka HC allowed app-based transport technology aggregators(Ola, Uber etc) to levy a 10% additional charge over and above the fares fixed by the State Government and the applicable GST, till the government fixes fares as per the law.
Court directed the State Government not to take any coercive action against app-based aggregators for offering auto rickshaw services through their platforms. The court found that MVAG 2020 lists autorickshaws, e-rickshaw, motor cabs, motorcycles and buses as vehicles that can be offered through the platforms of aggregators.
Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines (MVAG) 2020:
It addresses the issues of auto-rickshaw services and regulation of fares to be charged by the aggregators, in a scientific and technical manner.
Context: Although the IMF has downgraded India’s growth forecast to 6.1% for the next fiscal year (2023-24), it has maintained that India “is still a bright spot” for economic growth.
Indian economy is facing a mix of cyclical and structural challenges –
Monetary policy refers to central bank activities that are directed toward influencing the quantity of money and credit in an economy. By contrast, fiscal policy refers to the government’s decisions about taxation and spending. Both monetary and fiscal policies are used to regulate economic activity over time.
Context: International E-Waste Day is held on October 14 every year as an opportunity to reflect on the impacts of e-waste.
Slogan: ‘Recycle it all, no matter how small!’.
Started by: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum (since 2018.)
The focus of this year International E-waste Day
What does the survey report conducted by WEEE say on E-waste?
It is an international association of 46 e-waste producer responsibility organisations.
Context: Recently a court in Varanasi has rejected a plea requesting carbon dating into the structure (claimed to be shivling) found inside Gyanvapi Mosque.
Carbon dating is a widely-used method to establish the age of organic materials. The dating method is based on the fact that Carbon-14 (C-14), an isotope of carbon with an atomic mass of 14, is radioactive, and decays at a well known rate.
The most abundant isotope of carbon in the atmosphere is C-12. A very small amount of C-14 is also present. The ratio of C-12 to C-14 in the atmosphere is almost static and is known. The changing ratio of C-12 to C-14 in the remains of a plant or animal after it dies can be measured, and can be used to deduce the approximate time when the organism died.
However, carbon dating cannot be used to determine the age of non-living things like rocks (or Shivlings).
Context: Scientists have detected barium in the upper atmosphere of two giant exoplanets for the first time.
It is two and a half times heavier than iron and is the heaviest-ever detected element. Barium salts are used in fireworks to generate green lights.
An exoplanet is any planet beyond our solar system. Most orbit other stars, but free-floating exoplanets, called rogue planets, orbit the galactic centre and are untethered to any star.
The search for exoplanets is driven by the possibility that life may exist beyond Earth.
Context: The defence minister launched the ‘Maa Bharati Ke Sapoot’ website (www.maabharatikesapoot.mod.gov.in) for contribution to the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund (AFBCWF).
Context: Nuclear-powered INS Arihant carries out successful launch of SLBM
Significance: It will help in a robust, survivable and assured retaliatory capability in keeping with India’s policy to have ‘Credible Minimum Deterrence‘ that underpins its ‘No First Use’ commitment.”
India’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) programme is a closely guarded project. INS Arihant was the first boat under the SSBN project followed by another boat, INS Arighat. SSBN programme is a key element of India’s nuclear deterrence capability.
‘Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear Submarine’ (SSBN). SSBN’s are those class of submarines which can go deep beneath the ocean making them virtually undetectable for months, they also carry nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
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