Green Revolution

MS Swaminathan, who played a crucial role in combating India’s food insecurity, passed away recently.

• Norman Borlaug – Father of Green Revolution
• M.S. Swaminathan – Father of Indian Green Revolution
• Need – Post- independence, India signed a long-term Public Law (PL) 480 agreement to get food aid under Government agricultural trade development assistance, with the US in 1954.
• The imported grains would directly go to feed the people and they called it a “ship-to-mouth’ existence.
• Green revolution – It refers to the large increase in production of food grains resulting from the use of high yielding variety (HYV) seeds especially for wheat and rice.
• 1st Phase – Mid 1960s to mid-1970s
  • The use of HYV seeds was restricted to the more affluent states such as Punjab, Andhra and Tamil Nadu.
  • Further, the use of HYV seeds primarily benefited the wheat growing regions only.
• 2nd phase- Mid-1970s to mid-1980s
  • The HYV technology spread to a larger number of states and benefited more variety of crops.
• Main features
  • The HYV seeds
  • Use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides
  • Application of modern farm machines
  • Extensive irrigation facilities
  • Multiple cropping
  • Improved credit facilities
  • Support price policy
  • Improved R&D and extension infrastructure
• The success of ‘green revolution’ during 1960s was only possible when the semi-dwarf gene or sd1 gene (mutant allele of plant height) was discovered in the Chinese cultivar ‘Dee-geo-woo-gen’ (DGWG).

The Special Marriage Act, 1954

A 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court has ruled against legalising same sex marriage in India.

• Objective – To facilitate the marriage of couples professing different faiths and preferring a civil wedding.
• Eligibility conditions – The man should have completed 21 years of age and the woman 18.
• Neither should have a spouse living.
• Both should be capable of giving valid consent and should not suffer from any mental disorder that renders them unfit for marriage.
• They should not be within the degrees of prohibited relationship in such a way that their religion does not permit such marriages.
• Procedure – Parties to an intended marriage should give notice to the marriage officer of the district in which one of them had resided for at least 30 days.
• The marriage has to be solemnised within 3 months of the notice.
• Objections – Any person can object to the marriage within 30 days of the publication of the notice on the ground that it contravenes one of the conditions for a valid marriage.
• The marriage officer has to inquire into the objection and give a decision within 30 days.
• If he refuses permission for the marriage, an appeal can be made to the district court and the court’s decision will be final.
• Severance – When a member of an undivided family who professes Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jaina religions, gets married under SMA, it results in his or her severance (breaking off) from the family.
• The Constitution under Articles 245 & 246 empowers both the Parliament and the State to enact marriage regulations.

United Nations (UN)

UN have completed 78 years in 2023.

• Precursor to UN – League of Nations was created in 1919 after World War I, as a part of the Treaty of Versailles but failed.
• The Atlantic Charter, a joint declaration by US and UK in 1941 (during World War II) came and the title “United Nations” was adopted for the 1st time to identify the countries that allied against Axis powers.

• It was subsequently incorporated by reference in the Declaration of the United Nations in 1942.
• San Francisco Conference, the UN Conference on International Organization determined the main principles and structure of the UN Charter.
• Formation – It was established in 1945.
• Members – 193, India is a founding member.
• There are 6 official languages in UN.
• Achievements of UN - It passed a resolution to eliminate nuclear weapons in 1946.
• In 1948, it created the World Health Organisation (WHO) to deal with communicable diseases like smallpox, malaria, HIV.
• In 1950, it created High Commissioner for Refugees to take care of millions who had been displaced due to World War II.
• In 1972, UN Environment Program (UNEP) was created to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
• In 2002, it established the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try those who have committed war crimes, genocide, and other atrocities.
• The UN peacekeeping missions are authorized by the UNSC, currently 12 UN peacekeeping missions are active.

• UN 75 declaration - The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.

South Lhonak Lake

A cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim resulted in a flash flood in the Teesta River in Lachen Valley killing around 14 people.

• South Lhonak Lake – It is located at 17100 feet above sea level in Sikkim.

• It is a glacial moraine dammed lake formed due to the melting of the Lhonak glacier.
• It is one of the 14 potential lakes susceptible to Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF).
• Impact of the lake outburst – It led to the breach of the Chungthang dam, which is the largest hydropower project in Sikkim.
• Chungthang dam is also a part of the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Teesta Stage III Hydro Electric Project.
• Bridges such as the Indreni bridge, Ritchu Bridge, Sangkhalang bridge, etc. were washed away in the floods.
• Teesta – It is a major transboundary river that flows through India and Bangladesh.
• It originates from the Pahunri (or Teesta Kangse) glacier and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal before flowing into Bangladesh.
• It is a tributary of Jamuna River (Brahmaputra River).

Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

• It denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a 3rd party.
• ADR Mechanism – It includes arbitration, mediation, conciliation and negotiation.
• Arbitration – The resolution parties refer their dispute to one or more persons called arbitrators.
• It is brought before an Arbitral Tribunal, which renders a binding award on the parties mostly except in few interim cases.
• Negotiations - It is a voluntary, binding procedure without the involvement of any 3rd party to obtain a negotiated settlement.
• It can occur in business, non-profit organisation, government branches, legal proceedings, International relation and personal circumstances such as marriage, parenting, divorce and regular life.
• Mediations – A neutral person is known as a ‘mediator’ who assists the parties in attempting to obtain a mutually acceptable resolution of the disagreement through mediation.
• The 3rd party does not make any decision for the parties, instead, it serves as a facilitator who helps them improve their interaction, and thus it is also called as facilitated negotiation.
• Conciliation – It is a non-binding procedure.
• The parties are assisted by an impartial 3rd party, the Conciliator, in finding a mutually satisfactory agreed settlement of the disputes.
• The parties have the right to accept or reject the conciliator’s recommendations.
• If both parties accept the conciliator’s settlement agreement, it will be final and binding on both parties.

Tele MANAS

India’s round-the-clock mental health helpline, Tele-MANAS has completed one year.

• Tele MANAS – Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking across States
• It is the National Tele Mental Health Programme of India and is conceptualised as the “digital arm of the National Mental Health Programme”.
• Launched in – 2022, on the World Mental Health Day (October 10).
• Guiding agency – Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)
• Nodal centre – National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru
• Technical support by – International Institute of Information Technology- Bangalore (IIITB)
• Objectives – To provide universal access to equitable, accessible, affordable and quality mental health care through 24X7 tele-mental health services (number - 14416)
• To scale up the reach of mental health services to anybody who reaches out, across India, any time
• To implement a full-fledged mental health-service network
• It is a 2-tier system.
• Tier 1 – It will comprise the State Tele MANAS cells, which includes trained counsellors and mental health specialists.
• Tier 2 – It will comprise specialists at District Mental Health Programme (DMHP)/Medical College resources for physical consultation and/or eSanjeevani for audio visual consultation.
• It is implemented via a National Technical Advisory Group (NTAG) and 3 technical advisory sub-committees that includes:
  • Mental Health Service Delivery
  • Information Technology Architecture
  • Health Systems

• MANOASHRAYA – Dashboard on Rehabilitation Homes (RH)/ Halfway Homes (HH) in the country.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

The year 2023 marks a decade since China’s ambitious infrastructure funding project, the BRI, was first outlined by President Xi Jinping.

• Launched in – 2013
• ‘Belt’ Plan – It was to revitalise a series of trading and infrastructure routes between Asia and Europe.
• Connectivity through Central Asia was a key element of the initiative.
• ‘Road’ Plan – A sea trade infrastructure called ‘Road’ was announced to connect China with Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa.
• The major focus has been to build ports, bridges, corridors, etc. throughout South East Asia and Indian Ocean.
• Together, these initiatives were referred to as the One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR).
• Aim – To resolve China’s capital surplus and industrial overcapacity and to increase its political influence in broader regions.
• Partnership – about 147 countries have signed on to projects or indicated an interest in doing so.
• Italy is the only G7 country to sign up for this.
• It has 6 international economic corridors, spanning across Asia, Europe and Africa.
• Principles of BRI – Policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, trade, financial integration, people-to-people connections and industrial cooperation
• Financing bodies – Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Silk Road Fund (SRF).
• Other alternatives for BRI are
  • Build Back Better World Initiative (B3W) – Launched by G7 in 2021, later renamed as Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII).
  • Global Gateway Programme (GGP) – By EU in 2023
  • India-Middle East-Europe (IMEC) corridor – Proposed at the New Delhi G20 summit, 2023.

Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences (Nobel Prize for Economics) 2023

Recently, Ms. Claudia Goldin won the 2023 Nobel Prize for economics, for her work that overturned assumptions about gender equality.

• Award for – The research work which is the 1st comprehensive account of women’s earning and labour market participation through the centuries.
• Work of Claudia Goldin – She studied the archives of about 200 years of United States of America to demonstrate how and why gender differences in earnings and employment rates have changed over time.
  • Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women
  • Career & Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity
• Significance – She is only the 3rd women to have won the prize (for Economics) after Elinor Ostrom in 2009 and Esther Duflo in 2019.
• She is 1st women to get Economic Nobel as a solo winner.

Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)

Recent Teesta dam breach in Sikkim and the flood and landslides in Himachal Pradesh are stark reminders for the need for a different set of environmental standards and clearances in Indian Himalayan Region.

• EIA – UNEP defines EIA as a tool used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making.

• It compares various alternatives for the proposed project and analyses all possible environmental repercussions in various scenarios
• Objectives – To predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design
• To find ways to reduce adverse impacts and to shape projects to suit the local environment.
• To present the predictions and options to decision-makers.
• In India – EIA was introduced in 1978 with respect to river valley projects.

• Statutory backing by – Environment Protection Act, 1986.
• In 2006, State governments were also given powers to issue Environmental Clearances in certain cases.
• Only projects enumerated in the schedule attached to the notification require prior EC.
• Categorisation – Mining, extraction of natural resources and power generation and physical infrastructure.
• The threshold limit beyond which EIA is warranted for all these projects is the same across the country.
• Benefits – It helps to decide appropriate mitigation strategies and also to reduce cost and time of project implementation.

White Phosphorus

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused the Israel Defense Forces of using white phosphorus munitions in Gaza and Lebanon.

• White phosphorus – It is a pyrophoric substance that ignites when exposed to oxygen and is one among the most unstable pyrophoric substances.
• Properties – It emits a distinct garlic-like odour and produces thick, light smoke with intense 8150 Celsius heat.
• Usage – It is dispersed in artillery shells, bombs, rockets and via felt (textile) wedges soaked in the chemical.

Military applications

• As smokescreen, it hides ground troop movement
• As an incendiary weapon to start fire
• Confuses the infrared optics and weapons tracking systems & protects the forces from guided missiles.
• Impact on humans – Can cause burns even up to bones.
• Inhalation causes respiratory damage, harm internal organs.
• Impact on Environment – It can devastate infrastructure and property, damage crops and kill livestock.
• Regulation – It is not explicitly banned by international conventions but their use is regulated under the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
• It is not considered a chemical weapon because its operational utility is primarily due to heat and smoke, rather than toxicity.
• IHL – It lays down the responsibilities of states and non-state groups in an armed conflict, and is also called ‘the law of war’ or ‘the law of armed conflict’.
• Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits incendiaries or the use of other substances to attack civilian populations.
• Palestine and Lebanon have joined Protocol III, while Israel has not ratified the protocol.

Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2023

India ranks 111 out of a total of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2023.

• GHI – A tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
• Launched in – 2006
• Published by – Concern Worldwide & Welthungerhilfe
• 4 Indicators
• Undernourishment – Share of the population with insufficient caloric intake.
• It is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size.
• Child stunting – Share of children under age 5 who have low height for their age.
• It reflects chronic undernutrition.
• Child wasting – Share of children under age 5 who have low weight for their height.
• It reflects acute undernutrition.
• Child mortality – Share of children who die before their 5th birthday.
• It reflects inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.
• Scores – It is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger based on the 4 indicators.
• Zero “0” is the best possible score (no hunger) and “100” is the worst.
• 2023 Report – Global hunger remains too high, and progress on reducing hunger has largely stalled.

• It is due to the combined effects of overlapping crises like COVID-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, economic stagnation, impacts of climate change and conflicts among many countries.
• India – With a score of 28.7, hunger level is serious.
• It has the highest child wasting rate in the world, at 18.7%, reflecting acute undernutrition.

World Energy Outlook, 2023

• It is an annual report.
• Launched in – 1998, by International Energy Agency (IEA)
• 2023 findings for India– Residential ownership of Air-conditioner usage to see 9-fold increase by 2050.
• India’s power consumption for ACs by 2050 will exceed the whole of Africa’s demand existing today.
• Energy supply to rise to 60.3 exajoules (EJ) by 2050.
• Annual CO2 emissions to rises nearly 30% by 2050.
• Over the past 5 decades, more than 700 heatwave events occurred.

International Migration Outlook, 2023

• It is an annual publication.
• Published by – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• 2023 findings – India saw the highest migration flows to OECD countries in 2021 and 2022.
• India replaced China as the main country of origin of new migrants to OECD countries in 2020.
• India was followed by China and Romania in terms of new migrants.
• Due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, inflows of refugees from Ukraine to OECD nations reached the highest level on record.

Interconnected Disaster Risks report, 2023

• It is released annually.
• Launched in – 2021, by Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), an arm of UN University at Germany.
• 2023 findings – World is inching closer to 6 interconnected risk tipping points, describing immediate and increasing risks across the world.
• Aquifers are depleting faster than they can be replenished.
• In last 100 years, more than 400 vertebrate species were wiped out.
• Melting of glaciers is at double the speed relative to past 2 decades.
• Around 50% of glaciers (excluding Greenland and Antarctica) would be lost by 2100 irrespective of any current efforts.
• About 75% objects orbiting around earth are junks.
• High heat with humidity, hinders sweat evaporations and may cause organ failure and brain damage.
• Risk tipping point – It is the moment at which a given socio-ecological system can no longer buffer risks and provide its expected functions.

Moscow Format

• The Moscow format is one of the several dialogue platforms on Afghanistan, which began before the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
• Members - Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and India.
• Introduced by - The Russian government in 2017.
• Aim - To encourage a peaceful conclusion to the violence and instability in Afghanistan
• The Kazan Declaration is a document that resulted from the 5th regional consultation on Afghanistan, known as the Moscow Format, which took place in Kazan, Russia.
• The Kazan Declaration underscores the call for the Afghan authorities to create conditions that improve the well-being of the Afghan people, deter further migration, and facilitate the return of refugees.

Mussel Species

Recently National Green Tribunal has sought a report on removal of invasive mussel species from Ennore-Pulicat wetland of Tamil Nadu.

• ‘Mytella strigata’ is an invasive South American mussel species.
• Mytella strigata is referred locally as ‘kaaka aazhi’.
• It is wiping out the locally prevalent and commercially valuable yellow clams (manja matti) and green mussels (pachai aazhi).
• It has spread over the riverbed, preventing prawns from grazing or burying themselves in the sediment.
• Because of the invasive mussels, the river bottom is suffocated with one-foot-deep sludge of black, foul-smelling slimy excreta.
• kaaka aazhi is not an alien species as it has an entry in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (WPA).
• ‘Unionidae’ is the largest family of freshwater mussels that is found mostly in USA.

SIMBEX

• It is a bilateral naval exercise between India and Singapore.
• The 30th Edition of the Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX), 2023 was held in the southern parts of the South China Sea.

SAMPRITI

• It is a joint army exercise between India and Bangladesh.
• 11th edition (SAMPRITI-XI) of annual joint military exercise was held at Meghalaya, India.

CHAKRAVAT

• CHAKRAVAT is Annual Joint HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) Exercise.
• The exercise involves multi agency participation.
• The 2023 edition would further synergise efforts at the national level among all stakeholders, as well as witness participation from 8 countries of the Indian Ocean Region.
• The exercise has been conducted by Indian Army, Indian Navy (IN) and Indian Air Force (IAF) in rotation since 2016.
• The 2022 edition of the exercise was conducted at Agra by IAF.
• The 2023 edition of the exercise is being hosted by the Indian Navy at Goa in the month of October.

Green Credit Program (GCP)

• It is an innovative market-based mechanism.
• Objective – Incentivize voluntary environmental actions across diverse sectors by various stakeholders like individuals, communities, private sector industries, and companies.
• GCP's governance framework – Inter-ministerial Steering Committee and GCP administrator.
• GCP Administrator – Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).
• Focus – Water conservation and afforestation.
• Digital platform – It will streamline registration of projects, its verification, and issuance of Green Credits.
• Green Credit Registry and trading platform – It allows buying and selling of Green Credits.

• Operation Kachchhap - Operation Kachchhap is part of a series of determined efforts by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to combat illegal wildlife trafficking and preserve the environment.
• The rescued turtles are Indian Tent Turtle, Indian Flapshell Turtle, Crown River Turtle, Black spotted/Pond Turtle and Brown Roofed Turtle.
• Operation Sarvashakti - An anti-terror campaign in Jammu and Kashmir's Pir Panjal Range.
• Conducted by - The Indian Army
• Project Udbhav - The Indian Army has started an initiative, named Project Udbhav in collaboration with the United Service Institution (USI) of India.
• It aims to rediscover the Indic heritage of statecraft and strategic thoughts derived from ancient Indian texts of statecraft, warcraft, diplomacy and grand strategy.
• It focuses on indigenous military systems, historical texts, regional texts and kingdoms, thematic studies, and intricate kautilya Studies from 4th century BCE to the 8th century CE.
• The first scholarly outcome of the initiative is the Paramparik Bhartiya Darshan Ranniti aur Netriyta ke Shashwat Niyam.

Eastern Ghats

• It is a discontinuous range of mountains along India’s eastern coast.
• It is an ancient orogenic belt formed from the collision of crustal rocks during the Archean Era.
• Geographical location – Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana.
• Major rivers – Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri
• The Eastern Ghats are lower in height than the Western Ghats.
• Important hills - Shevaroy hills, Bilirangan hills, Nallamala Hills, Mahendragiri, Javadi hills, etc.
• Rocks – Made up of charnockite, granite gneiss, khondalite, granite and quartzite         
• Minerals found– Limestone, bauxite and iron ore.
• Madhurawada Dome – It was formed by a tectonic arrangement with the khondalite suite and quartzite Archean rocks north of Visakhapatnam.

United Nation Forum on Forests (UNFF)

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has organised a Country-Led Initiative (CLI) event as part of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) in 2023 at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

• It is a subsidiary body within the UN Organization.
• Formation Year - 2000
• Objectives – To promote management, conservation& sustainable development of all types of forests.
• Formed by - Resolution 2000/35 of Economic and Social Council    of the United Nations (ECOSOC)
• Membership - Universal membership that comprises all member states of the UN and its specialized agencies
• India’s Membership - Founding member of UNFF
• The 19th session of UNFF is scheduled at UN Headquarters, New York in May 2024.
• Target basis – Based on Rio Declaration, Forest Principles, Agenda 21 and outcome of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF)/ Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) and other key milestones of international forest policy.
• Collaborative Partnership on Forests was established in 2001 to Support the work of UNFF and its member countries.

Niobium

Recently the Cabinet approved royalty rates for mining of 3 critical and strategic minerals such as Lithium, Niobium and Rare Earth Elements (REEs).

• Niobium also known as columbium, is a chemical element with the symbol Nb (formerly Cb) and atomic number 41.
• Niobium is a light grey, crystalline and ductile transition metal.
• Pure niobium has a hardness similar to that of pure titanium, and it has similar ductility to iron.
• Niobium is used in alloys, tools and dies and superconductive magnets.
• Niobium in one of the Critical Minerals in India and not one of the 17 rare earth elements (REE).
• The main source of Niobium element is the mineral columbite.
• This mineral also contains tantalum and the two elements are mined together.
• Columbite is found in Canada, Brazil, Australia, Nigeria and elsewhere.
• Some niobium is also produced as a by-product of tin extraction.
• The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment act, 2023 delisted 6 minerals, including Lithium and Niobium, from the list of atomic minerals.