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The government has opened yet another week-long window for electoral bond sales, starting December 5, less than a month after it amended the Electoral Bond Scheme to enable an additional fortnight of sales in years when States and Union Territories have polls.
The Finance Ministry announced the 24th tranche of electoral bond sales through 29 branches of the State Bank of India (SBI) across the country which are authorised to issue and encash the bonds from December 5 to December 12.
This is the third successive month that bond sales have been opened up, starting with a 10-day window in October as per the original scheme, followed by a week of sales that began on November 9 ahead of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections under the amended norms.
The Electoral Bond Scheme was introduced in January 2018 as an alternative to cash donations ‘to cleanse the system of political funding in the country’.
News
SC order on higher pension contribution has legal, financial, actuarial, logistical implications’ (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) of the International Labour Organisation will be held in Singapore between December 5 and 9.
Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav says India will make suggestions on sustainable financing of social security. On the recent Supreme Court verdict on higher EPFO pension, Mr. Yadav says it is being examined by his Ministry as it has several implications.
In Singapore, India’s suggestions will include the way to strengthen employment service portals, integration of job portals across the globe to bridge the gap between job-seekers and employers, a system for skill gap mapping for employment growth, and the formalisation of economy by providing social security to the informal sector workers, including gig and platform workers.
Our suggestions will also include sustainable financing of social security; facilitating the growth of gig and platform economy; extension of credit facility to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship; the promotion of investment in physical and digital infrastructure; leveraging the opportunities presented by green economy; aligning labour laws with the current economic scenario; and compliance mechanisms to be simplified and updated, in consonance with the latest technological developments.
A recent ILO report said the recovery is going to be slow in the region due to multiple factors such as inflation and growing unemployment rate.
World
Tamil MP warns of ‘China go home’ campaign in Sri Lanka (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Sri Lankan Opposition legislator Shanakiyan Rasamanickam has threatened to launch a “China go home” campaign, akin to the ‘Gota go home’ movement that ousted the former President in the wake of the island’s painful economic crash.
His remarks follow a Twitter spat earlier this week, after the Tamil National Alliance’s Batticaloa district parliamentarian, in a parliamentary address, sought greater cooperation from China in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring efforts.
Sri Lanka’s chances of securing an International Monetary Fund package depend on the government obtaining adequate financing assurances from its creditors, including private lenders and bilateral creditors.
Colombo, irrespective of who is in power, has maintained close and cordial ties with China, unlike neighbouring Maldives whose current government openly pursues an “India first” foreign policy.
However, public perception of China is more divided, as protests against the Chinese-backed Colombo Port City showed last year.
While China provided significant assistance during the pandemic — 80 % of the vaccines and crucial medical supplies — its support during the crisis has been limited, mostly to a $74 million grant, announced in May this year, at the height of the island’s crisis.
India pitched in with nearly $4 billion this year, becoming the main source of emergency assistance for the dollar-strapped island nation. India and Japan have pledged support to the debt restructure process and the IMF programme. Meanwhile, all eyes are on China, as Sri Lanka hopes to expedite its negotiations with creditors, months after the government’s sovereign default.
Science
A large study shows immense benefits of reducing salt intake (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
A recent study published in theJournal of American College of Cardiologyshowed ahigher incidence of heart attacks, heart failure and strokes with higher frequency of adding salt to one’s food.
This did not include the salt used for cooking.
Over 1.76 lakh participants from the U.K. Biobank were followed upfor anaverage of 11.8 years. Nearly 7,000 heart attacks and over 2,000 strokes were documented during thisperiod.
After adjustingfor all other risk factors, it was found that adding less salt with food was associated with fewer heart attacks and strokes.
This was found to be true even in participants who were following the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).
DASH is the best recommended diet to prevent cardiovascular events. DASH dietinvolves eating fruits, vegetables, lean meat, poultry, nuts, whole grains, and reducing the intake of saturated fats, cholesterol, and sugar.
The WHO recommends only 5gmof salt per day. The recent study points to the immense benefit of avoiding salt on thetable.
There is a paucity of large and reliable studies estimating the daily salt intake in our country. Whatever data we have still shows a consumption of more than 10 gm per day, far exceeding the recommended allowance.
It could be worse in childrensince the recommendation is almost half. A study conducted by Sapiens heath foundation amongst school and college students in Chennai showed a 10% prevalence of hypertension.
Intake of salt may be worse in Indians since pickles are often introduced early in life. We cannot forget the hidden salt in preserved and packaged foods. The consumer is not given a choice to choosefood items based on salt content.
Increasing the shelf life of stored blood (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Our team at the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (DBT-inStem), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, has developed a novel blood bag technology to enhance the quality and shelf life of stored blood.
Despite inadequate blood donation, millions of blood units are discarded due to decline in quality during storage. Stored blood has a finite shelf life.
Typically, stored cells produce various extracellular components known as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which damage the blood cells during storage.
Although multiple attempts have been made to increase the quality of stored blood, they have limited success. Thus far, studies have focused on improving storage conditions through additives, rejuvenation solutions, and cryopreservation protocols.
However, none of those approaches addressed the cause of the problem — the presence of damage causing extracellular components in the blood.
To tackle this issue, contrary to the conventional approaches, we have developed a novel approach to scavenge/capture and remove the damage-causing extracellular components during blood storage.
This prevented the damage of stored blood cells, and enhanced their quality, and increased the shelf life of stored blood by about 25%.
Typical extracellular components being generated are free-iron and free-hemoglobin, bioactive lipids such as poly unsaturated fatty acids, extracellular DNA, nucleosomes, and proteins.
China: Embracing a planned exit from zero-COVID strategy (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
China’s zero-COVID strategy aims at not allowing a single infection to happen in the country, aiming at an infection-free population over a prolonged period, achieved through two actions.
First, all infected persons, regardless of their health status, are placed in strict isolation in demanding circumstances.
Two, all the members in the community are segregated at home or work where even a single case has emerged until no new infections have occurred in the isolated group, usually for a period of two to three weeks.
At the same time, millions of people are continuously tested, and strict contact control is implemented. Also, most travel to and from the country is restricted, with infrequent visitors having to undergo a seven-day quarantine and several tests.
Proponents of the zero-COVID strategy believed that SARS-CoV-2 virus is amenable to eradication, a term reserved for the disappearance of the virus.
Far from extinction, the virus has thrived and morphed into more infectious variant forms. The zero-COVID strategy postponed the inevitable outbreaks to a later point in the timeline, with the virus waiting to find a vast susceptible pool of persons.
The strategy offers a glowing short-term euphoric goal of minimal cases, only to see a rebound in increased cases and deaths, often resulting in excessive pressure on the healthcare system later and derangements in society’s normal order. Consequently, people’s suffering is prolonged.
This strategy would have been theoretically successful if the virus diminished in its capacity to infect or if the population was protected with both primary and booster vaccine doses. Neither of these were realistically achieved in China while the virus was continuously evolving.
While the virus is ubiquitous, it is unwise, disproportionate, costly, and useless to drive all resources toward detecting every case.
Many countries including Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand realised that the zero-COVID strategy was a blunder as a destination and pursuit, and abandoned it after initial trials.
FAQ
Are rhino and elephant conservation efforts a success? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The story so far:
Greens worldwide called the Kaziranga National Park the greatest conservation success story in 2005 when it completed a century. Much of it is attributed to a rhino protection force that shoots alleged poachers at sight; more than 55 armed men have been killed within the boundary of the 1,300 sq. km tiger reserve for unauthorised entry since 2012-13.
The population of the one-horned rhino was about a dozen when Kaziranga became a protected area in 1905.
According to the State of Rhino Report 2022, the poor-sighted herbivore’s number in Kaziranga is an estimated 2,613, more than 65% of its total population of 4,014 across 11 habitats in India and Nepal. A decade ago, the rhino’s population in these domains was 2,454.
A section of conservationists say the focus is too much on the rhino but agree this has made other animals in its domains a beneficiary.
The number of tigers, for instance, has increased in Assam at a rate higher than elsewhere in India. A 2010 count said Kaziranga has the highest density of tigers — 32.64 per 100 sq. km — in the world.
According to Assam-based rhino expert Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, the strengthening of the anti-poaching mechanism in India and Nepal with more manpower, capacity-building of frontline staff and equipping forest guards with better fighting gears have helped protect the rhino.
The sentiments of local people attached to the rhino have also been a factor in the sharp drop in the number of rhinos killed, from 54 in 2013 and 2014 to one each in 2021 and 2022.
Cheetahs and tigers: the saga of big cats in India (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
This year marked the arrival of Namibian cheetahs to India, the first intercontinental transfer of wild cats into the country since independence.
Eight cheetahs were flown into the Kuno National Park (KNP), Madhya Pradesh, from Namibia on September 17 as part of an ambitious project to reintroduce the big cat into the country.
They were released into the quarantine zone at the KNP by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In February, the government went public with a plan to import a cohort of animals that could live in India, setting up a task force to implement the programme.
The cheetahs — five females and three males — were flown into India following several weeks of medical supervision in Namibia.
They will be released into the wild gradually so that they have enough time to adapt to Indian conditions, are at reduced risk of contracting and spreading infection and have honed the skills to hunt Indian prey.
The eight cheetahs were housed in six ‘bomas’ (enclosures) and initially provided with buffalo meat. So far, three of the animals have been released into a larger enclosure outside of the ‘bomas’ after two of them — Freddie and Elton — successfully killed chital for prey in November.
The third animal, Oban, was also released mid-November and all the animals are expected to be moved inside larger enclosures in weeks. The cheetahs are radio-collared and their movements will be tracked.
Each animal has a dedicated tracking team. A team of wildlife scientists, biologists, and Laurie Marker, a renowned zoologist and founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, is monitoring the initiative.
Protecting the Great Indian Bustard (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
On November 30, the Supreme Court asked the Government, whether a focussed approach, something like Project Tiger, can be taken up for saving the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB).
Hearing petitions highlighting deaths of the GIBs due to power transmission lines, a special bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud directed Chief Secretaries of Gujarat and Rajasthan to undertake and complete a comprehensive exercise within four weeks to find out the total length of transmission lines in question and the number of bird diverters required.
This is not the first time that the Supreme Court had intervened in the conservation of the GIB. In an earlier order in April 2021, the Supreme Court had directed the authorities to convert the overhead cables into underground power lines, (where feasible) within a period of one year and that till such time diverters would have to be hung from existing power lines.
There are several threats that have led to the decline of the GIB populations; however, power lines seem to be the most significant.
There have been studies in different parts of the world where bustard populations have shown high mortality because of power lines such as Denham’s bustards in South Africa and the Great Bustard in Spain.
Like other species of bustards, the GIBs are large birds standing about one metre tall and weighing about 15 to 18 kgs.
The GIBs are not great fliers and have wide sideways vision to maximise predator detection but the species’ frontal vision is narrow.
These birds cannot detect power lines from far and since they are heavy fliers, they fail to manoeuvre across power lines within close distances.
Business
Russian oil revenues could brave EU ban, G7 price cap (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Russian oil output could fall by 5,00,000 to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) early in 2023 after the EU imposes a ban on seaborne imports.
The estimate is at the lower end of market analysts’ forecasts of the combined impact of the ban and a proposed price cap on Russian oil, although the sources said the true level would depend on several factors.
Alexei Kokin of Otkritie brokerage agreed with the assessment of the likely impact of Western measures on Russian output.
It’s roughly the same as the volume of seaborne supplies to the EU in recent weeks,” he said. “I don’t think they (Russian producers) will be able to divert that elsewhere. The West wants to squeeze Russia’s ability to fund the conflict.
Exports of crude, gas and oil products account for the bulk of Russia’s revenues, which have stayed high as disruption to output and sales following sanctions has been offset by high global prices.
Russia’s revenues from oil and gas jumped by over a third in the first 10 months of the year. The EU, its biggest buyer, cut purchases in response to the conflict, but Moscow successfully diverted supply to Asia and exports slid only slightly.
The more Russian oil that is lost to world markets, the greater the likely impact on prices. That could benefit Moscow and other major exporters and penalise consumers in the West who already face the highest inflation in decades, largely because of energy costs.
EU members agreed this week to a price cap of $60 per barrel of Russian oil, with an adjustment mechanism to keep the ceiling 5% below market values.