MOST PROBABLE TOPICS- PART 9

1. Central Asian Flyway

• The Central Asian Flyway (CAF) is a flyway covering a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean and the associated island chains. The CAF comprises several important migration routes of waterbirds, most of which extend from the northernmost breeding grounds in Siberia to the southernmost non-breeding wintering grounds in West Asia, India, the Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory.
• The Central Asian Flyway is the shortest flyway in the  world. Lying entirely within the Northern Hemisphere, it connects a large swathe of the Palaearctic with the  Indian subcontinent.
• Of the nine migratory bird flyways, the central Asian flyway goes from India. The Amur falcon migrates from China, comes to Nagaland and then goes to Somalia using this flyway.

2. Global Gender Gap Report- 2020

• released by World Economic Forum
• India- 112/ 153– It was 108 in 2019
• Based on 4 dimensions:
  o Economic Participation and Opportunity
  o Educational Attainment
  o Health and Survival, and
  o Political Empowerment.
• India is the only country where the economic gender gap is larger than the political one.
• Bangladesh tops the Indian subcontinent countries,better than even China.
• India improves in political empowerment while deteriorates on other 3 indices.

3. Surrogacy

• Surrogacy is the practice whereby one woman carries the child for another with the intention that the child should be handed over after birth.
• India remains among a handful of places where paid surrogacy is legal. It was banned for foreigners in 2015.

Surrogacy (Regulation) BILL

Features of proposed Bill

• Proposes  altruistic surrogacy and bans commercial surrogacy.
• Provides that the surrogate mother needs to be close relative of the intending couple.
• Intending couple becomes eligible by obtaining a certificate of infertility after 5 years of not bearing a child.
• Insurance coverage for the surrogate mother is limited to 16 months.
• PIO, OCI and foreigners-Not allowed to commission surrogacy in India.

4. Marine Plastic Pollution

• A report titled “Breaking the Plastic Wave”- ‘A   Comprehensive Assessment of Pathways Towards Stopping Ocean Plastic Pollution’ was released. 
• Microplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm) or nanoplastics (particles smaller than 100 nm) disperse even farther and deeper into the ocean, where it  becomes effectively impossible to retrieve.
• MARPOL is the main international convention aimed at the prevention of pollution from ships caused by operational or accidental causes. It was adopted at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1973.
• India is a signatory to MARPOL.

5. Mamallapuram

• Mamallapuram, also called Mahabalipuram or Seven Pagodas, is a town that lies along the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

History

• It is an important town of the erstwhile Pallava dynasty that ruled in parts of South India from 275 CE to 897 CE.
• It was founded by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I in the 7^th century AD.
• The name Mamallapuram derives from Mamallan, or “great warrior”, a title by which the Pallava King Narasimhavarman I was known.
• The name Mamallapuram got distorted during the British era to Mahabalipuram and thus it is also known as Mahabalipuram.

Art

• Mamallapuram contains many surviving 7^th– and 8^th-century Pallava temples and monuments, chief of which are the sculptured rock relief popularly known as “Arjuna’s Penance,” or “Descent of the Ganges,” a series of sculptured cave temples, and the Shore Temple.
• The town’s Five Rathas, or monolithic temples, are the remnants of seven temples, for which the town was known as Seven Pagodas. The entire assemblage collectively was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

Importance

• Ancient Chinese, Persian, and Roman coins found at Mamallapuram point that it was a seaport.
• Mamallapuram and the Pallava dynasty are also historically relevant, for the earliest recorded security pact between China and India (in the early 8^th century) that involved a Pallava king (Rajasimhan, or Narasimha Varma II), from whom the Chinese sought help to counter Tibet.
• The second informal summit between India and China was held here in October 2019.

6. Report on Lead Poisoning by UNICEF

• UNICEF and  Pure Earth have released a report- “The Toxic Truth: Children’s exposure to lead pollution undermines a generation of potential”.

Key Findings

• Lead poisoning is affecting children on a “massive and previously unknown scale”.
• Around 1 in 3 children – up to 800 million globally – have blood lead levels at, or above, 5 micrograms per decilitre (µg/dL), the amount at which action is required.
• Nearly half of these children live in South Asia.
• The report notes that informal and substandard recycling of lead-acid batteries is a leading contributor to lead poisoning in children living in low and middle-income countries, which have experienced a three-fold increase in the number of vehicles since 2000.

Lead

• Lead is a potent neurotoxin that causes irreparable harm to children’s brains.
• It is particularly destructive to babies and children under the age of 5 as it damages their brain before they have had the opportunity to fully develop, causing them lifelong neurological, cognitive and physical impairment.
• WHO has identified lead as 1 of 10 chemicals of major public health concern.
• WHO has joined with  the United Nations Environment Programme to form the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint. 
• Sources of childhood lead exposure – Lead acid batteries, lead in water from the use of leaded pipes; lead from active industry, such as mining and battery recycling; lead-based paint and pigments; leaded gasoline,  lead solder in food cans; and lead in spices, cosmetics, toys and other consumer products.

Report is not as important as knowing about lead.

7. UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION (UNCCD)

• 14th CoP hosted in New DElhi- first time in India
• India has taken CoP presidency till 2021 from China,for 2 years
• Peace Forest Initiative is an initiative by South Korea to provide a practical platform that will foster international collaboration by demonstrating the value of achieving land degradation neutrality in cross-border post-conflict situations.
• United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030)
• Drought Toolbox is currently being developed as part of the Drought Initiative through the close partnership among UNCCD, WMO, FAO, GWP, National Drought Mitigation Centre (NDMC) of the University of Nebraska, and UNEP-DHI . It is a is a sort of knowledge bank, which contains tools that  strengthen the ability of countries and communities to anticipate and prepare for drought .

UNCCD

• Established in 1994, the convention is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management and to address the problem of  desertification-  addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas.
• 3 Rio conventions (1992) adopted by United Nations- UNFCCC ,UNCCD and CBD.

8. Van Dhan Vikas Kendra

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs
• It is an initiative targeting livelihood generation for tribals by harnessing the wealth of forest i.e. Van Dhan.The  programme aims to tap into traditional knowledge & skill
  sets of tribals by adding technology & IT.
• TRIFED will facilitate establishment of MFP-led  multipurpose Van Dhan Vikas Kendras.

TRIFED

• The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into existence in 1987. It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• TRIFED has its Head Office located in New Delhi .
• The ultimate objective of TRIFED is socio-economic development of tribal people in the country by way of marketing development of the tribal products such as metal craft, tribal textiles, pottery, tribal paintings and pottery on which the tribals depends heavily for major portion of their income.

9. Minimum Support Price- MSP

• The MSP is the rate at which the government buys grains from farmers.
• Reason behind the idea of MSP is to counter price volatility of agricultural commodities due to the factors like variation in their supply, lack of market integration and information asymmetry.
• Fixation of MSP: The MSP is fixed on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• Factors taken into consideration for fixing MSP include:
  • Demand and supply,
  • Cost of production (A2 + FL method),
  • Price trends in the market, both domestic and international,
  • Inter-crop price parity,
  • Terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture,
  • A minimum of 50% as the margin over cost of production, and
  • Likely implications of MSP on consumers of that product.
• After receiving the feed-back from them, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of the Union government takes a final decision on the level of MSPs and other recommendations made by the CACP.
• Procurement: The Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal central agency of the Government of India, along with other State Agencies undertakes procurement of crops.
• The minimum support price of 22 crops is declared.
• The mandated crops are 6 rabi crops, 14 crops of the Kharif season, and two other commercial crops. In total it includes; Cereals (7) – wheat, paddy, bajra, barley, jowar, ragi, and maize; Pulses (5) -arhar/tur, gram, urad, moong, and lentil and Oilseeds (8);rapeseed/mustard, groundnut,soyabean, toria, sesamum, safflower seed, sunflower seed, and nigerseed.

Fair and Remunerative Prices of SUGARCANE are determined on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and are announced by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which is chaired by Prime Minister.It does not come under MSP.- Asked in previous Prelims exam.

Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)

• The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. It came into existence in January 1965.
• It is an advisory body whose recommendations are not binding on Government.

10. Bioactive Compounds

• Bioactive compounds are defined as components of food that have an impact on physiological or cellular activities in the humans or animals that consume such compounds. They include flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins, betalains, carotenoids, plant sterols, and glucosinolates. They are mainly found in fruits and vegetables; have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic effects; and can be protective against various diseases and metabolic disorders. Such beneficial effects make them good candidates for development of new functional food with potential protective and preservative properties. Various fruits and vegetables provide a range of nutrients and different bioactive compounds including phytochemicals (phenolics, flavonoids, and carotenoids).

11. Minor Forest Produce

• An important source of livelihoods for tribal people are non-wood forest products, generally termed ‘Minor Forest Produce (MFP)’ means all non-timber forest produce of plant origin and will include bamboo, canes, fodder, leaves, gums, waxes, dyes, resins and many forms of food including nuts, wild fruits, Honey, Lac, Tusser etc. 
•  Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has added nine minor forest produce (MFP) items to its minimum support price (MSP) for MFP scheme. The total number of MFPs covered under the list is 49.
• The nine new items are: Bakul (dried bark), Kutaj (dried bark), Noni/Aal (dried fiuits), Sonapatha/Syonak pods, Chanothi seeds, Kalihari (dried tubers), Makoi (dried fiuits), Apang plant and Sugandhrnantri roots/tubers.

12. Stem Cells

• A stem cell is a cell with the unique ability to develop into specialised cell types in the body. In the future they may be used to replace cells and tissues that have been damaged or lost due to disease.
• Stem cells provide new cells for the body as it grows, and replace specialised cells that are damaged or lost. They have two unique properties that enable them to do this:
  • They can divide over and over again to produce new cells.
  • As they divide, they can change into the other types of cell that make up the body. 
• There are three main types of stem cell:
  • embryonic stem cells
  • adult stem cells
  • induced pluripotent stem cells

Induced pluripotent stem cells

• Induced pluripotent stem cells, or ‘iPS cells’, are stem cells that scientists make in the laboratory.
• ‘Induced’ means that they are made in the lab by taking normal adult cells, like skin or blood cells, and reprogramming them to become stem cells.
• Just like embryonic stem cells, they are pluripotent so they can develop into any cell type.

13. Lonar Lake

• Lonar lake turned pink due to a large presence of the  salt loving ‘Haloarchaea’ microbes which are found in salt saturated water.
• It is the world’s largest basaltic impact crater, formed  when a meteorite hit Earth ,located in Buldhana district, in Maharastra.

14. Sukhna Lake declared as a Wetland

• Sukhna Lake is a man-made lake in Chandigarh built-in 1958. It is situated at foothills of Shivalik Hills and was designed to collect runoff water from the Hills.
• Earlier, the lake was also declared a living entity/legal person.
• Wetland Rules, 2017 were notified under provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to protect wetlands across the country.
• Wetlands can be notified by Centre, State and UT Administration.

15. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership- RCEP

• India did not join.
• RCEP is Free Trade Agreement (FTA) involving 15 countries, including the 10 ASEAN countries and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.
• It seeks to provide a framework aimed at lowering trade barriers and securing improved market access for goods and services for businesses in the region.

16. QUAD

• An informal but increasingly being formalized strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India.
• The dialogue was initiated in 2007 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.
• To develop one mechanism,to promote the free and open Indo-Pacific.

17. UN Peacekeeping Forces

• Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan received prestigious UN medal.
• 1st UN peacekeeping mission – 1948– to the Middle East to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
• India has provided more than 2 lakh officers to UN  Peacekeeping over 70 years, in more than 50 missions, starting from Korean War in 1950
• India has lost the highest number of its peacekeepers in various UN peacekeeping operations.

18. Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation  (CTBTO)- 1996

• India invited as an observer.
• Multilateral treaty that bans all nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments.
• It will come into force when all the 44 countries which possess nuclear capability and research reactors  ratify it.
• Neither signed nor ratified– India, North Korea and  Pakistan– (asked in earlier Prelims exam)
• Signed but not ratified– China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States.

19. Human Development Report – 2019

• Title- “Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in human development in the 21st century”
• First released in 1990 by UNDP.
• HDI ranks countries on the basis of 3 parameters:
  o Life expectancy
  o Education
  o Per capita income
• India ranking in 2019- 129/189– score- 0.647
• Improvement over 2018 ranking which was 130/189  with score of 0.643.
• Human Development Report Office releases 5 composite indices each year:
  Human Development Index (HDI), the Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), the Gender Development Index (GDI), the Gender Inequality Index (GII), and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

Findings of the Report

In India, between 1990 and 2018-

• Life expectancy at birth increased by 11.6 years,
• Mean years of schooling increased by 3.5 years
• Expected years of schooling increased by 4.7 years.
• Per capita incomes rose by over 250 per cent.

20. NATO Ally like Status

Benefits of status for the country-

• Eligible for entry into cooperative research and development projects with the Department of Defense (DoD) 
• Purchase of depleted Uranium antitank rounds
• Priority delivery of ships and military ration.
• Allow possession of War Reserve Stocks of Department of Defence owned equipment that are kept outside of American military bases.
• No need to fund NATO.

21. Great Indian Bustard

• The Great Indian Bustard is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world.
• Scientific Name: Ardeotis nigriceps
• Habitat: Dry grasslands and scrublands on the Indian subcontinent; its largest populations are found in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
• Protection Status
  • Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List
  • In Appendix I of CITES,
  • In Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

22. Peatlands

• Peatland is a terrestrial wetland ecosystem in which the production of organic matter exceeds its decomposition and a net accumulation of peat results.
• Peatlands occur in every climatic zone and continent. The total area globally is around 4 million km2 making them 70% of natural freshwater wetland or 3% of the Earth’s land surface.
• The majority of the world’s peatlands occur in boreal and temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, especially, Europe, North America and Russia.
• Water loss in northern peatlands threatens to intensify fires, global warming.

23. Green Bonds

• State Bank of India has listed Green Bonds worth $100 million on India INX’s Global Securities Market Platform (GSM).
• A green bond is like any other regular bond but with one key difference: the money raised by the issuer are earmarked towards financing `green’ projects, i.e. assets or business activities that are environment-friendly. Such projects could be in the areas of renewable energy , clean transportation and sustainable water management.
• Green bonds typically come with tax incentives to enhance their attractiveness to investors.
• Green Bond was issued first time by World Bank in 2008.
• What are the avenues where these funds can be invested? SEBI’s indicative list includes renewable and sustainable energy such as wind and solar, clean transportation, sustainable water management, climate change adaptation, energy efficiency , sustainable waste management and land use and biodiversity conservation.

24. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On- GRACE-FO

• GRACE-FO is a mission of NASA and German Research Centre for Geosciences launched in 2018, to track Earth’s water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, amount of water in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean.

25. Khazan Ecosystems

• Khazan farming- This system is a carefully designed topo-hydro-engineered agro-aquacultural ecosystem mainly based on the regulation salinity and tides in Goa consisting of reclaimed wetlands and mangroves.
• Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is Goa’s smallest protected area — it comprises barely two square kilometres of lush mangrove forests. The sanctuary is located on Chorão, one of Goa’s estuarine islands in the Mandovi river.