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Critical Topics and Their Significance for the UPSC CSE Examination on August 23, 2024
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ICAR, Penn State team makes a tool small enough to edit plant genomes
For Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international events
For Mains Examination: GS III - Science & technology
Context:
Researchers have developed a plant genome editor consisting of a protein derived from Deinococcus radiodurans bacteria — famous for being able to survive extreme conditions. The protein is less than half the size of the proteins CRISPR commonly uses to target specific parts of the DNA
Read about:
What is CRISPR Technology?
What is Genome Editing?
Key takeaways:
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology is a revolutionary tool used in genetics for editing genomes. It allows scientists to alter DNA sequences and modify gene function with unprecedented precision
Here’s a brief overview:
CRISPR was first discovered as part of the immune system in bacteria. Bacteria use CRISPR sequences to remember viruses that have attacked them before. If the virus attacks again, the bacteria produce RNA segments from the CRISPR sequences to target and cut the virus's DNA, neutralizing the threat
How It Works
- Cas9 Protein: The CRISPR system is commonly associated with a protein called Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9), which acts like molecular scissors. Cas9 can be programmed to cut DNA at specific locations.
- Guide RNA (gRNA): This is a custom RNA sequence that guides Cas9 to the exact spot in the DNA where the cut needs to be made.
- DNA Editing: Once the DNA is cut, the cell naturally tries to repair the break. During this repair process, scientists can introduce new genetic material or disable a gene, effectively editing the genome.
Applications
- Medical Research: CRISPR is used to study genes and their functions, model diseases, and even explore gene therapy options to treat genetic disorders.
- Agriculture: It’s used to create crops with desirable traits, such as disease resistance or enhanced nutritional content.
- Biomedical Advances: CRISPR holds potential for treating diseases like cancer, HIV, and genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia.
- argeting a Specific DNA Sequence: Genome editing involves the identification of a particular sequence of DNA that scientists want to modify. This sequence could be a single gene or a section of a gene.
- Cutting the DNA: A specialized enzyme, known as a nuclease, is used to cut the DNA at the targeted site. This cut can either be a clean break or a nick in one of the DNA strands.
- Repairing or Altering the DNA: After the DNA is cut, the cell’s natural repair mechanisms kick in. Scientists can harness these repair processes to introduce changes:
- Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ): This repair mechanism tends to introduce small insertions or deletions at the break site, which can knock out or disable a gene.
- Homology-Directed Repair (HDR): In this repair process, a DNA template is provided by scientists, allowing precise insertion of new genetic material at the site of the cut.
1.What is the Cas9 protein that is often mentioned in news? (UPSC CSE 2019)
A.A molecular scissors used in targeted gene editing
B. A biosensor used in the accurate detection of pathogens in patients
C. A gene that makes plants pest-resistant
D. A herbicidal substance synthesized in genetically modified crops
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Answer (A)
A. A molecular scissors used in targeted gene editing The Cas9 protein is an enzyme that plays a key role in the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology. It acts like "molecular scissors," cutting DNA at specific locations, allowing for the targeted modification of genes |
Earth whistles when lightning strikes, and there’s a new melody
For Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
For Mains Examination: GS III - Science & technology
Context:
The earth is surrounded by a bubble-shaped magnetic field that shields the planet from radiation from the Sun and other celestial objects. This field is called the earth’s magnetosphere.
Read about:
What is Lightning?
Is Lighting is reason for more Wildfires?
Key takeaways:
- The Earth is encased in a bubble-shaped magnetic field known as the magnetosphere, which protects the planet from harmful radiation emitted by the Sun and other celestial bodies.
- During a solar storm, the Sun releases charged particles with higher energy levels into the surrounding space. Without the magnetosphere, these particles could have made life on Earth impossible.
- However, the magnetosphere traps these particles, causing them to circulate around the Earth instead of reaching the surface. They form two large, doughnut-shaped radiation belts in the upper atmosphere, known as the Van Allen radiation belts.
- These belts were discovered by American astrophysicist James Van Allen in 1958, and his research played a crucial role in enabling human space exploration, including the mission to the Moon. Van Allen observed that certain areas of the radiation belts were weaker, suggesting that passing through these regions would be less harmful to astronauts and spacecraft.
- Lightning generates a bolt of electrical energy that travels through the atmosphere, releasing electromagnetic waves with varying frequencies. Some of these waves are guided by Earth's magnetic field into a layer of ionized gas above the atmosphere, where they move along magnetic field lines between the Earth's northern and southern hemispheres. The speed of these waves increases with their frequency, sometimes reaching up to a tenth of the speed of light.
- Many of these waves fall within the range of human hearing (20–20,000 Hz) and can be detected as whistling sounds using a receiver. As lower frequency waves travel, they can lose some energy in the upper atmosphere, resulting in a descending tone.
- In a study published in the journal Science Advances on August 16, researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks identified a new type of whistler wave created by an unfamiliar wave generation process.
- They found that lightning energy injected into the ionosphere at low latitudes could be reflected into the magnetosphere, contradicting previous beliefs that such energy could not escape the ionosphere at low latitudes.
- This discovery is significant because it suggests that the amount of lightning energy entering the magnetosphere could be double what was previously estimated, potentially leading to revised calculations of lightning's impact on the Van Allen radiation belts
Follow Up Question
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Answer (D)
Thunder is produced by the rapid expansion of air due to the intense heat generated by lightning. When lightning strikes, it heats the air surrounding its path to an extremely high temperature, causing the air to expand rapidly. This rapid expansion creates a shock wave that we hear as thunder. None of the options provided correctly describes the cause of thunder
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Were 8 crore new jobs created in three years?
For Preliminary Examination: Unemployment, Types of Unemployment
For Mains Examination: GS III - Indian Economy
Context:
Prime Minister Modi, based on the India-KLEMS database, claimed that India created “eight crore new jobs in the last three to four years”. However, analysts are questioning the methodology used to estimate these numbers. They argue that little meaningful employment was created in these years
Read about:
What is Unemployment?
Types of Unemployment
Key takeaways:
- India-KLEMS utilizes employment data from the PLFS, but instead of using the absolute number of workers, it relies on the Worker Population Ratio (WPR), which the PLFS provides as the proportion of workers in the population.
- To calculate the total number of workers, the WPR is multiplied by the total population. The challenge arises here because India does not have an official population figure after 2011.
- Demographers typically estimate population figures for years between censuses by interpolating data from the most recent Census. However, India-KLEMS took a different approach by using population estimates from the Economic Survey (ES) 2021-22 for the years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20.
- The ES projected population by assuming that the growth rates from 2001 to 2011 remained constant after 2011. These population projections were then multiplied by the WPR to estimate the number of workers for those years.
- For the years 2020-21 to 2023-24, India-KLEMS switched to a different source and method, using population projections from 2011-2036 published by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) in 2020.
- These projections were based on 2011 Census data and were adjusted annually using demographic models that included Total Fertility Rates (TFR) and mortality rates reported in the 2017 Sample Registration System (SRS).
- The question arises as to why India-KLEMS did not consistently use the MoHFW projections for all years after 2017-18. It seems that while the RBI updates the series with new estimates after 2022, it does not revise or update earlier estimates.
- There are two significant concerns here. First, the population projections from both the ES and MoHFW fail to account for the significant decline in fertility rates in India over the past decade.
- The standard replacement TFR is typically 2.1 children per woman, but recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data show that India’s TFR had dropped to 2.0 by 2019-21. Additionally, a 2024 study in The Lancet projected that TFR values in India and Bangladesh would fall below 1.75 by 2027. These declines in TFR were not factored into the population projections by either the ES or MoHFW.
- Second, the population projections from both the ES and MoHFW do not differentiate between rural and urban areas. As a result, India-KLEMS managers used national sex-wise population data, assumed uniform growth rates for rural and urban populations, and derived separate projections for each.
- However, it is well-known that rural populations in India are growing more slowly than urban populations. Assuming the same growth rates for both likely leads to an overestimation of the rural population.
- Due to these two issues, the population figures used to multiply the WPR in India-KLEMS, and the resulting estimates of the number of workers, are likely overestimated
- In the past three to four years, the claim of job creation has come under scrutiny, with analysts raising concerns about the methodology used to estimate these figures. They argue that there was minimal meaningful employment generated during this period.
- Employment, or the lack thereof, has been a hotly debated topic among economists and policymakers in India recently.
- According to this database, the total number of workers in India increased from 56.6 crore in 2020-21 to 64.3 crore in 2023-24, indicating a net increase of 7.8 crore workers. Following this claim, the research team at the State Bank of India (SBI) released a report that appeared to validate these figures, showing a correlation between the number of workers in the India-KLEMS database and the NSSO's Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), 2022-2023.
- What was surprising about these claims was the reported increase in the number of workers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that the employment-to-population ratio between 2019 and 2023 remained stagnant or even declined in regions such as East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. Given these global trends, analysts have expressed significant methodological and empirical doubts about the India-KLEMS database, suggesting that India's employment growth figures may be outliers.
- The India-KLEMS project originated as an academic initiative funded by the RBI in 2009, and since 2022, the RBI has hosted the database. KLEMS stands for Capital (K), Labour (L), Energy (E), Material (M), and Services (S), representing a framework for measuring industry-level "total factor productivity" (TFP), which is seen by mainstream economists as an indicator of the efficiency of all inputs in producing a unit of output.
- It is important to note that the primary purpose of the KLEMS framework is not to generate employment data. Instead, employment figures serve as inputs within the database's modeling framework. Additionally, the RBI does not directly collect data on employment or any other inputs used in the India-KLEMS database. Instead, it sources sectoral data on employment, input usage, and output from official sources such as the Central Statistics Office, Census of India, Annual Survey of Industries, and Periodic Labour Force Surveys (PLFS). It is therefore surprising that data sourced by the RBI from these official channels, intended for TFP estimation, are being portrayed as "RBI jobs data" to make political statements about employment generation in the economy.
- India-KLEMS derives its employment data from the PLFS, but it does not use absolute figures for the number of workers. The PLFS only provides the Worker Population Ratio (WPR), or the proportion of workers in the population. To estimate the number of workers, the WPR is multiplied by the total population. The problem arises because there is no official population figure for India after 2011.
- To estimate population figures for the years between censuses, demographers typically interpolate numbers from the last available Census. However, India-KLEMS took a different approach by using population estimates from the Economic Survey (ES) 2021-22 for the years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20. The ES assumed that population growth rates from 2001 to 2011 remained constant after 2011, and these projections were then used to estimate the number of workers by multiplying them with the WPR.
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Answer (B)
Thus, the correct answer is B. 1 and 2 only |
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India at both the national and state levels. Established in 1950, the ECI ensures the conduct of free and fair elections to the Parliament, State Legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice President in India.
Key Functions and Roles:
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Supervision of Elections: The ECI supervises the preparation of electoral rolls, the conduct of all elections, and the declaration of results. It ensures that elections are conducted in a transparent and unbiased manner.
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Model Code of Conduct: The ECI enforces the Model Code of Conduct, which sets guidelines for political parties and candidates during elections to maintain the integrity of the electoral process.
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Voter Education and Awareness: The ECI works to increase voter awareness and participation through various programs and initiatives, such as the National Voters' Day.
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Registration of Political Parties: The ECI registers political parties and monitors their adherence to election laws and regulations.
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Adjudication of Disputes: The ECI resolves disputes related to elections, including issues with candidates, parties, and voting procedures.
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Election Machinery: The ECI oversees the election machinery, including the appointment of election officers and the maintenance of voting equipment like Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs).
Structure:
The Election Commission of India is a multi-member body, typically consisting of a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners (ECs). They are appointed by the President of India and have equal powers in decision-making.
The ECI plays a crucial role in upholding the democratic process in India by ensuring that elections are conducted fairly, transparently, and efficiently
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Answer (D)
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- The South China Sea is crucial for global trade due to its strategic location in the western Pacific Ocean, nestled between southern China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
- According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), approximately one-third of international maritime trade transits through the South China Sea, which spans 3.5 million square kilometers (1.4 million square miles) annually.
- This route handles around 40% of the world's petroleum products each year. In 2016, trade through this seaway was valued at approximately $3.6 trillion (€3.29 trillion), as reported by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, though other estimates suggest the figure could be as high as $5.3 trillion.
- Duke University researchers have estimated that the combined trade through the South China Sea and the East China Sea—located between China, the two Koreas, and Japan—reaches $7.4 trillion annually.
- Each year, tens of thousands of cargo ships navigate the South China Sea, transporting around 40% of China's trade, one-third of India's trade, and 20% of Japan's trade with the global market, according to CSIS data.
- The economic stability of China, India, and Japan is heavily dependent on the smooth operation of this vital maritime route. The South China Sea serves as a key hub for regional trade within Asia and for global commerce, particularly with Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
- The South China Sea is a highly contentious area due to overlapping territorial claims and strategic interests. Beijing asserts near-total control over the South China Sea, a stance that has provoked tension with neighboring countries, who argue that China's claims encroach upon their exclusive economic zones.
- The 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court in The Hague, which found that China lacked legal and historical justification for its expansive claims, has been dismissed by Beijing.
- Recently, China's military activities in the region have become more assertive, including confrontations with Filipino vessels, raising concerns about potential conflict. The United States has consistently stated its commitment to defending the Philippines if attacked, including in the South China Sea.
- In response, Vietnam has submitted a claim to the United Nations for an extended continental shelf beyond the current 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers), and the Philippines made a similar submission earlier in the year.
- Additionally, China's view of Taiwan as a breakaway province, which it seeks to reunite with the mainland, further intensifies tensions in the South China Sea, with concerns that Beijing might resort to military action to bring Taiwan under its control.
- The South China Sea is also disputed due to its significant natural resources. The region is estimated to contain approximately 5.38 trillion cubic meters (190 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and 11 billion barrels of oil reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
- Moreover, it holds substantial deposits of rare-earth minerals essential for China's technological advancements, including those used in electric vehicle batteries and advanced electronics.
- Some estimates indicate that the Pacific Ocean contains vastly more rare-earth minerals than known land reserves, with a significant portion controlled by China, which is crucial for the global transition to cleaner energy
- Since late last year, global trade has been disrupted by attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea near Yemen. In retaliation for Israel's military actions against Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis launched drone and missile strikes on commercial shipping.
- To avoid the risk, major shipping companies have rerouted their vessels from the Red Sea, including the Suez Canal, opting instead to travel around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa.
- This detour adds roughly 10 days to the journey from Asia to Europe, increasing shipping costs due to higher insurance premiums and diesel prices, and causing delays at container ports in Europe and Asia.
- As the conflict between Israel and Hamas risks expanding into the broader Middle East, with Iran reportedly preparing a potential direct strike on Israel, there are concerns that Iran might also target the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade chokepoint that handles nearly one-third of the world’s oil trade.
- Iran has previously attacked commercial vessels in the strait, and any additional attacks would be seen as a significant escalation by the West. Avoiding the Strait of Hormuz could lead to further delays and increased costs in maritime trade.
- If tensions between China and its neighboring countries worsen, it might exacerbate the global shipping crisis. Shipping companies could avoid parts of the South China Sea, leading to potential delays and higher costs, which might result in shortages of goods and reduced revenue for key Asian ports, such as those in Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan. While current tensions mainly involve China, the Philippines, and Taiwan, the real threat to trade could come from the Malacca Strait, located further south between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
- In 2023, the Malacca Strait handled 23.7 million barrels of oil and petroleum products daily, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), which is 13% more than the Strait of Hormuz. With its narrowest point being just 64 kilometers wide, the Malacca Strait is susceptible to congestion, collisions, and has experienced numerous incidents of piracy and theft
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Answer (B)
The Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Diaoyutai Islands in Taiwan, are a group of uninhabited islands located in the East China Sea. The islands are subject to a territorial dispute primarily between China and Japan, with Taiwan also laying claim to them. Here are some key points about the dispute:
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| Subject | Topic | Description |
| History | Modern Indian History | National Movements between 1919 to 1939 |
| History | Modern Indian History | Governor generals of India |
| History | Modern Indian History | Doctrine of Lapse |
| History | Modern Indian History | Religious reform Movements |
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