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The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), at its meeting in New Delhi, decided that Karnataka should release water at the rate of 3,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) to Tamil Nadu from September 28 to October 15.
The 15-day spell of 5,000 cusecs, determined by the CWRC during its meeting on September 12, is coming to an end. As in the past, the revised quantity of 3,000 cusecs has to be realised at Billigundulu on the inter-State border.
The meeting of the CWRC, the assisting body for the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), lasted nearly two hours and members of the panel, especially those from the States of the Cauvery basin, took part virtually.
On the CWRC’s decision, chairman Saumitra Kumar Haldar told that the date of October 15 had been chosen as it would generally mark the end of the southwest monsoon and the commencement of the northeast monsoon.
To a query on whether the authority would meet in the intervening period, he said, “We will be meeting shortly.”
Cheetahs may be flown in from new countries (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
With six adult cheetahs dead within the first year of their relocation to India, wildlife experts associated with Project Cheetah are considering importing the next batch of big cats from countries other than South Africa and Namibia.
Experts told that experiences with the animals over the past year were prompting a rethink.
A major factor was some of the animals’ vulnerability to infections due to their tendency to form ‘winter coats’ during the summer and monsoon months.
Dadasaheb Phalke honour for actor Waheeda Rehman (Page no. 1)
(Miscellaneous)
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur announced that veteran Bollywood actor Waheeda Rehman would be given the Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021, honouring her stellar contribution to Indian cinema.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the 85-year-old actor on the micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter). Delighted that Waheeda Rehman ji has been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award.
Her journey in Indian cinema has left an indelible mark. A beacon of talent, dedication and grace, she embodies the best of our cinematic heritage. Congratulations to her.
States
Assessment of space situation done to ensure safety of Aditya-L1 (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
While the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Aditya-L1 spacecraft is on its way towards the sun-earth Lagrange’s Point 1 (L1), the space agency has done an assessment of the space situation around L1 to ensure safety of the spacecraft.
Launched on September 2, Aditya-L1 is India’s first mission dedicated to studying the sun. The spacecraft commenced its journey L1, on September 18 and is expected to reach L1 by January 2024.
Aditya-L1 will operate in a halo orbit around the sun-earth L1 point, located approximately 1.5 million km from earth.
According to ISRO, halo orbits are periodic, three-dimensional orbits around a Lagrange Point (L1, L2 or L3) and involve an out-of-plane motion component relative to the primary bodies.
The orbit is large enough in size to be continuously viewed from earth and would appear to form a halo around the Lagrange Points (here L1 for Aditya L1).
There are currently four operational spacecraft at L1- WIND, Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVER).
Several operational spacecraft are currently stationed at the L1. These spacecraft at L1 provide vital early warnings on adverse space weather events that help protect orbiting space assets and ground-based infrastructure.
Despite the extremely sparse population in L1 and the vast separation between them, close approach assessment for an operational spacecraft at Lagrange Point Orbit (LPO) is desirable because of the large positional uncertainty and sensitivity to other perturbative forces.
Balsams in full bloom add to visual treat in Munnar (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Presenting a visual feast to tourists, balsams (genus Impatiens) are in full bloom in Munnar. Called Kasithumba and Onappovu locally, its small, pink flowers are a major attraction along the Devikulam stretch of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway.
Balsams are also known as ‘touch-me-not’ because of the bursting of mature seeds and seed distribution. Botanists say the large-scale flowering of balsams indicates that micro-climate is still active in the Munnar hill station.
Of the 220 balsam species in India, 135 are found in the southern Western Ghats. Jomy Augustine, former botany professor at St. Thomas College, Pala, says Idukki is known for the diversity of balsams, with scientists terming the district a balsam paradise.
Anamudi, the highest mountain in the Western Ghats, and the surrounding high ranges are known for the diversity of wild balsams.
New species of balsams are being discovered from these areas. There are balsams endemic to the high ranges. There are more than 30 species of balsams in the Periyar Tiger Reserve itself.
The normal life cycle of balsams is from June to December. The plant mainly grows inside pockets of forest areas. With the loss of specific habitats, many species have become rare, threatened, or even extinct. This fleshy orophytic herb usually prefers humid habitats and completes the life cycle in the rainy season.
Editorial
Pakistan’s internal challenges, shifting dynamics (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s persistent efforts to engage Pakistan to rectify its strategic errors in Afghan policy, faced unmet expectations.
In a critical meeting in May 2021 between Mr. Ghani, the Pakistan Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, Lt. General Faiz Hamid, and the Chief of Defence Staff of the United Kingdom, Gen. Sir Nicholas Patrick Carter, it became evident that promises made by the Pakistani military were often diluted through their chain of command.
Mr. Ghani noted a consistent drop in implementation percentages, as orders traversed from Gen. Bajwa to Gen. Faiz Hamid to subordinate field commanders.
This decline, attributed to a sympathetic disposition of mid-level commanders towards the Taliban, underscored the complexities within Pakistan’s military.
However, following the Taliban’s unexpected triumph in Afghanistan, the mood shifted dramatically within Pakistan. A sense of victory, liberating Afghanistan from a perceived oppression, led to celebrations and jubilation among military and political leaders.
Yet, as the international community’s views transitioned from jubilant acceptance to the condemnation of the Taliban’s actions, Pakistan’s claims of being a victim of terrorism found little traction. A similar scepticism resonated from within Pakistan, where doubts persisted about the military’s narratives.
Mr. Ghani’s insistence that Pakistan’s chosen military approach in Afghanistan represented a lose-lose-lose scenario remained steadfast.
With climate change, tackling new disease scenarios (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
In its latest report released this March, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) delivers a stark warning: climate change heightens the global risk of infectious diseases.
The close relationship between climate and disease is being demonstrated every year. For instance, the periodicity of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks no longer follows expected patterns.
Dengue manifests in two to three peaks throughout the year. Variability in temperature, precipitation, and humidity disrupt disease transmission cycles.
These also alter the distribution of the vectors and animal reservoirs that host the parasite. Heat has been proven to interfere with the genomic structure of pathogens, changing their infectivity and virulence.
Habitat loss forces disease-carrying animals to encroach upon human territory, increasing the risk of human-animal interaction and the transfer of pathogens from wildlife to humans.
Viruses which do not harm animals can be fatal for humans. Nipah virus, which has been causing outbreaks in Kerala for many years now, is a good example.
An analysis of 2022 published in Nature Climate Change warns that humans now face a broader spectrum of infectious agents than ever before.
Over half of all-known infectious diseases threatening humans worsen with changing climate patterns. Diseases often find new transmission routes, including environmental sources, medical tourism, and contaminated food and water from once-reliable sources.
While ecosystems shape local climates, climate change is transforming ecosystems. This dynamic introduces invasive species and extends the range of existing life forms.
Both these trigger upheavals in ecosystems that are complex and confound ecologists and epidemiologists to predict outbreaks. Human-induced climate change is unleashing an unprecedented health vulnerability crisis.
India, in particular, has felt the ominous impact, with early summers and erratic monsoons causing water scarcity across the Gangetic plains and Kerala.
Opinion
The need for quiet diplomacy to clear the air (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Indian and Canadian leaders and diplomats have never really engaged; rather, they have talked passed each other. This is occurring today too.
For decades, India has felt that Canada has shown scant respect for its interests, especially on the Khalistan issue. On the other hand, Canada believes that India displays little understanding of its laws and governance system, which prevents it from taking actions that India wants.
These differing perceptions have been accumulating over the years and a trigger was needed to publicly bring them out. The Nijjar case has been just that.
Significantly, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Canada has shared the credible allegations that I talked about with India.
We are there to work constructively with India and we hope that they engage with us so that we can get to the bottom of this very serious matter”.
The operative words here are “constructively” and “engage”. For India, the problem is that Canada has never shown a willingness for a constructive engagement on its concerns.
At the UN headquarters on September 21, Mr. Trudeau emphasised that Canada is a country based on the rule of law, and on the need for the global community to uphold a rules-based world order.
Canada has obviously made the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar a test case for upholding such an order. Implicit in its approach is the proposition that whatever may be the grievances of a country against Canada, the causing of harm to any its nationals is unacceptable. Canada’s allies — the U.S., the U.K., and Australia — are clearly endorsing this proposition by asking India to cooperate with Canada in the investigation.
News
Indians eat more salt than WHO recommendation (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The estimated mean daily salt intake in India stands at 8 g (8.9 g a day for men and 7.1 g a day for women) against the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of up to 5 g daily, a study has found.
The salt intake was significantly higher among men, those in rural areas and overweight and obese respondents, according to a recent survey by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) published in the journal Nature.
The study, carried out as part of the National Non-communicable Disease Monitoring Survey in India, noted that the sample population had a low perception of the harmful effects of high salt intake and practices to limit consumption.
The mean dietary salt intake is high in the Indian population, which calls for planning and implementing control of dietary salt consumption measures.
We need to cut down on eating processed foods and those cooked outside home. 10,659 adults aged 18-69 years participated in the survey [response rate of 96.3%], lead author of the study and director of the ICMR-National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research.
The study notes that salt intake was higher in employed people (8.6 g) and tobacco users (8.3 g) and those with high blood pressure (8.5 g).
It specifies that reducing the intake is a beneficial and cost-effective way to bring down elevated blood pressure by 25% and advocates a 30% reduction in mean population salt intake by 2025.
It found that less than half of the participants practised measures to control dietary salt intake and the most commonly adopted step to prevent salt overdose was avoiding meals outside home.
95% of components used in Indian rockets indigenous, says ISRO chief at CSIR event (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Nearly 95% of the components used in the rockets, including those used in Chandrayaan-3 mission, were made in India and were a result of several years of development involving the Indian Space Research Organisation and Indian industries, S. Somanath, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation, said at the Foundation Day celebrations of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in New Delhi.
These have not come about just like that and have come over several years...and is a result of collaborations with various agencies, including Indian laboratories, national labs, defence labs, and CSIR labs, focusing on material indigenisation, technology capabilities, and research.
The ISRO built its own lithium-ion batteries for space applications and was now in the process of transferring it to industry, he added. Several key components were made at Chandigarh’s Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) and only about “5% of high-end electronics” were imported for the space mission.
It is not a supercomputer but enough to run a rocket and take it safely into space. The battery systems, storage, solar cells, we’ve been doing this over a long time and have created an industry capable of doing all of this,” he said prior to a ceremony to felicitate the winners of the CSIR-Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar prizes, awarded annually to recognise scientists aged under 45 who have done exceptional work in previous years.
Jitendra Singh, Minister of Science and Technology, said that India was seeing a sea change in the way the organisation was being led and geared to address not only national aspirations but also to contribute to socio-economic growth.
NHRC seeks action taken report on welfare of transpersons from govt. (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued an advisory to the Centre, State governments and Union Territory administrations to ensure the welfare of transgender persons.
The welfare measures include provision of separate toilets, free sex reassignment surgery, pension rights and inheritance rights.
The commission has observed that one of the primary concerns of transpersons in the country is that despite legal reforms, they continue to grapple with discrimination, leading to employment disparities, limited access to healthcare, and exclusion from social circles. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, aims to safeguard and uphold their rights.
The commission, in a letter to the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Chief Secretaries of States and Administrators of Union Territories, has asked for the implementation of its recommendations in letter and spirit, and has sought “action-taken” reports within two months.
A single transchild of a deceased government employee or pensioner may be treated as an unmarried daughter for the family pension and other benefits.
It also recommended that transgender persons be allowed to inherit ancestral agricultural land. A multi-purpose identity card may be provided to the people of this community to help them access government schemes and other benefits.
“Insurance companies may be advised to consider and accept the Transgender Certificate issued by the appropriate authority for document verification purposes.
Business
Centre softens angel tax rules (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The government has eased some of the provisions of the angel tax introduced in this year’s Budget on investments into start-ups by non-resident investors at a premium over their fair market value.
It has introduced five different valuation methods for shares and offered a 10% tolerance for deviations from the accepted share valuations.
As per a notification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on Monday, Rule 11UA under the Income Tax Act has been amended, with some changes to the draft norms released in May, bringing some relief to prospective foreign investors.
The introduction of five alternative valuation methods for the valuation of equity shares, which so far could only be valued based on NAV and Discounted Free Cash Flow methods, should provide more flexibility to merchant bankers for the valuation of a company, partner at EY India. The option to value equity shares by any of these five methods is not available to resident investors.
Deloitte India partner Anil Talreja said Indian companies and investors were facing severe practical difficulties in executing a simple transaction involving infusion of capital on account of lack of clarity on these rules.
“The amended rule brings in more clarity for both investor and investee, basis which an appropriate valuation method can be adopted, reducing the chances of any future litigation,” said Atul Puri, co-founder of SW India.
World
Nepal says ‘no’ to China’s Security Initiative (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Nepal appeared to reject calls from China to join President Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative (GSI), but agreed to take forward ambitious cross-border connectivity projects during the visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to Beijing.
A lengthy joint statement released by the two sides outlined a number of border infrastructure projects, but failed to mention the GSI.
The Nepali side supports the Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by China, and will consider to join the Group of Friends of the GDI.
It also noted the 2017 agreement for both sides to cooperate under Mr. Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying they would “accelerate consultations to finalise the text” on an already delayed BRI implementation plan “at an early date.”
The GDI, the GSI and the Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI) are three key new initiatives proposed by Mr. Xi that will underpin China’s foreign policy during his third term.
The joint statement reflects a careful balancing act from Kathmandu which has made clear it will work with China on development projects but take a cautious approach on matters relating to security cooperation.
Nepal did reaffirm its commitment to China on Tibet and said “it will never allow any separatist activities against China on Nepal’s soil”.
China, for its part, said it “firmly supports Nepal in upholding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Boost in solar energy and electric vehicle sales gives hope for climate goals: IEA (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The window to limit human-caused warming to a globally agreed goal is narrowing but still open because of the huge growth of solar energy and electric vehicles sales worldwide.
For the last two years, the rate of the build-up of solar energy and electric vehicle sales were in line with achieving emissions reduction targets that will help cap warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said.
But renewable power needs to triple by 2030, the sale of EVs needs to rise much more sharply — 70% of all vehicle sales as opposed to the current 13% — and methane emissions from the energy sector needs to fall by 75% if global warming is to be curbed to the the Paris Agreement goal. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is up to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.
Investments in climate action also need to rise, from $1.8 trillion in 2023 to $4.5 trillion annually by the early 2030s, the report said.
“Global climate continues to change at a frightening speed,” said Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA at an online press event.
The report found that solar power capacity increased nearly 50% in the last two years and electric car sales increased by 240%.
But carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector — which includes the production of coal, oil and gas — remain worryingly high, reaching a new record of 37 gigatons last year.
Science
India is running out of phosphorus, does the answer lie in our sewage? (Page no. 22)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The problem with the fertilisation of land is as old as agriculture itself. When early humans first began to engage in settled agriculture, they quickly realised that while crops require nutrients for their growth, repeated cycles of cultivation and harvest depleted these nutrients, reducing yield over time.
Early agricultural societies began to notice that certain areas produced better crops and that soils could be replenished.
This observation led to practices to restore essential nutrients in the soil necessary for plant and crop growth. Indigenous communities around the world developed methods of fertilisation, for example, using fish remnants and bird droppings (guano) as fertilisers.
This changed in the 19th century, which saw significant advancements in chemistry, leading to the creation of synthetic fertilisers as well as the identification of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
They’re the foundation of modern synthetic chemical fertilisers and have caused agricultural productivity to boom. The Green Revolution of the mid-20th century accelerated the adoption of high-yield crop varieties and intensive use of these fertilisers, and today these substances are crucial to sustain global food production.
But we now have a problem. Phosphorus is scarce and exists only in limited quantities, in certain geological formations. Not only are we running out of it, it also pollutes the environment.
It doesn’t exist as a gas, which means it can only move from land to water, where it leads to algal blooms and eutrophication.
The history of phosphorus spans its discovery in guano to current global supply chains. Today, a handful of countries control most of the world’s reserves of phosphorus. This is a major geopolitical concern.
The world’s largest reserves are in Morocco and the Western Sahara region. But here, phosphorus coexists with cadmium, a heavy metal that can accumulate in animal and human kidneys when ingested. Removing cadmium is also an expensive process.