Daily Current Affairs : 12th, 13th and 14th November 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. MBBS in Hindi
2. CRISPR Technology
3. Recharging Ground Water by Water Harvesting
4. Release of convicts in Rajiv Gandhi Case
5. Places of Worship Act
6. Kisan Rail Scheme
7. Facts for Prelims

1 . MBBS in Hindi

Context:  Recently, doctors, students, and hospitals have raised concerns about viability of programme and employability of MBBS students from bilingual stream in Madhya Pradesh.

About New MBBS Course in Hindi-

• India’s second-largest state, Madhya Pradesh, has launched the country’s first medical textbooks in Hindi in a bid to make higher education more accessible to non-English speakers.
  • In Madhya Pradesh, 90 percent of 73 million residents speak Hindi.
• Anatomy, physiology and biochemistry courses will be offered in Hindi to new entrants in all 13 state-run medical colleges starting the current session this year, while textbooks for seniors will be available from 2023.
• The books would be ‘transliterated’ i.e., the text will be in English language written in the Devanagari script rather than translated into Hindi.
• There will be no language-based segregation of students or faculty. Students studying in Hindi and English will share classroom and teachers
• Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu have also promised to offer MBBS programmes in regional languages.

Benefits

• The shift in the language of instruction will bring higher studies closer to millions of deeply poor people who find education in English is costly and seen as elitist.
• The move would make students feel proud of their mother tongue.
• The initiative would change mindsets and prove that one could progress in life even after being educated in the Hindi medium.
• Students who have finished their schooling in regional languages will be able to make a smooth transition into the tough medical graduation programme.

Criticisms and Challenges

• Learning in medicine is a continuous process, and is done through conference research papers, lectures, seminars etc. Currently 99.99% of this is in English.
• Only transliteration and not translation of technical terms in Hindi so far.
  • Example- Word ‘Anatomy’ written in Devanagari as anatomy rather than translated.
• Will affect the quality of doctors- Medical education needs to be at par with international guidelines and bodies; it has to tie up with criterion of WHO, UNICEF, FDA etc.
  • In any country, that has opted for the regional language protocol of medical education, the quality of doctors has lowered massively — be it Russia, China, Ukraine or even the Philippines.
  • In such countries, doctors also face the brunt after completion of the course as they are not familiar with international guidelines.
  • This leads to poor salaries in that country and doctors also struggle to get entry into other countries’ medical systems.
• Lack of preparation books in regional languages for the medical entrance exam- This makes it difficult for aspirants to get admission in these courses.
  • Only 21.17 per cent of total students opted to attempt NEET in Hindi and regional languages, making it unviable for publishers to release material in regional languages.
  • Further, the publishers who provide books for NEET preparation may not have regional language expertise.
• Higher education post MMBS- post-graduation and super specialisation courses will be in English which will be a challenge for Hindi medium students.
• Another challenge is finding good teachers to teach in Hindi and other regional languages.
• Work outside India- opportunities would get very limited.
  • Students will have to clear a language proficiency test in English to work abroad.

2 . CRISPR Technology

Context: Scientists have, for the first time, used the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology to insert genes that allow immune cells to attack cancer cells, potentially leaving normal cells unharmed and increasing the effectiveness of immunotherapy.

The CRISPR gene editing technique has been previously used in humans to remove specific genes to allow the immune system to be more activated against cancer.

Genome Editing

• Genome editing (also called gene editing) technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome. Several approaches to genome editing have been developed. CRISPR is one of them.

What is CRISPR/Cas9?

• Much like what Microsoft (MS) Word does for writing, the CRISPR/Cas9 system allows for adding, altering and deleting the genomic code in living beings.
• Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) are pieces of DNA that bacteria snip off from viruses that once attacked them. That’s why it is often described as ‘Genetic Scissors’
• The CRISPR are a part of bacteria’s immunological systems that help them in recognising threatening viruses and fighting them using Cas9 protein.
• CRISPR technology does not involve the introduction of any new gene from the outside.

Use of CRISPR in Cancel Cell Therapy-

• The human immune system has specific receptors on immune cells that can specifically recognise cancer cells and differentiate them from normal cells.
• These are different for every patient, so finding an efficient way to isolate cancer cells and insert them back into immune cells to generate a personalised cell therapy to treat cancer is crucial.
•  The researchers found an efficient way to isolate these immune receptors from the patient’s own blood.
•  After isolation, the immune receptors are used to redirect immune cells to recognise cancer using the CRISPR gene editing.

Ethical Dilemma in using CRISPR

• Potential Misuse of the technology-
  • In 2018, a Chinese researcher disclosed that he had CRISPR aids in the disease treatment by correcting the underlying genetic problem.
  • This was the first documented case of creating a ‘designer baby’, and it caused widespread concern in the scientific community.
• If any changes are made in embryo itself, then the new acquired traits were likely to be passed on to future generations.
• Though the technology is fairly accurate, it is not 100% precise, and could induce a few errors as well, making changes in other genes.
  • This too has the possibility of being inherited by successive generations.

3 . Recharging groundwater by Water – Harvesting Measures

Context: The agrarian economy of the Indo-Gangetic plains is sustained by groundwater. But there are fears that the Indo-Gangetic basin aquifer may soon be incapable of supporting so much irrigation. This is very noticeable in the States of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan

Significance of Groundwater-

• Groundwater is the principal water source for a fourth of the world’s population.
• India is the world’s largest groundwater user; nearly 250 cubic kilometre was taken out in 2017.
• About 90% of this was used for irrigation, the rest went to towns and villages.
• The Green Revolution has been sustained by using tube wells.

Current Situation of Groundwater in India-

• The average rate of groundwater decline in this part of India has been 1.4 cm per year in this century.
• As per the latest groundwater assessment report released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, annual groundwater extraction for irrigation, domestic and industrial uses has come down by about 6 billion cubic metres (bcm) to 239 bcm in 2022 from 2020
• The report — National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources Of India, 2022 — said: “The total annual groundwater recharge for the entire country as of 2022 has increased by 1.29 bcm as compared to the last assessment (2020).

Raising the water table-

• Aquifers are recharged with water from rainfall and rivers.
• Post-Independence, India saw an increase in the construction of canals for distributing water.
  • These canals leak water, which also augments groundwater levels.
• An important factor contributing to the good health of aquifers in some parts of our country is community-based movements to recharge groundwater.
  • Example- Saurashtra where thousands of small and large check dams have been built across seasonal rivers and streams. These slow the flow of water and contribute to groundwater recharge as well as to check soil erosion.
  • Studies comparing the water table status in Saurashtra with the climatically similar regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha show a net positive impact.
• In villages, bori bandhs are built, which are essentially sand-filled bags placed in the path of rainwater runoffs.

4 . Release of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case Convicts

Context: The Supreme Court has recently ordered the immediate release of six life convicts who have been in prison for more than three decades in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

About the assassination case-

• Former prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber Dhanu, at a poll rally.
• Since Congress was slated to return to power, and for the extremist organization LTTE this meant a possible re-induction of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, this plan was hatched.
• The Special Investigative Team had named 41 accused in its charge sheet – including 12, who died in the blast and three who was absconding – before a TADA court in Chennai, 1998.
• In May 1999, the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence of four, including Murugan, Santham, Perarivalan and Nalini, commuted the death sentence of three to life, and freed the remaining 19.
• In 2000, the death sentence of one of the accused S Nalini, was reduced to a life sentence by the then Tamil Nadu Governor, at the instance of then Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
• In 2014, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Murugan, Santhan, and AG Perivalan to life.
• In 2014, the TN government took the decision to free the convicts and requested the central government to convey its views within three days as the investigation in the case was done by CBI. This was challenged by the centre.
• After a long tussle between state and centre, Supreme Court in 2022 invoked its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution and ordered the release of all 7 convicts.

Basis for the release-

• In 1999, The SC order observed none of those convicted was part of the nucleus of the assassination team.
• While hearing convict A G Perarivalan’s plea on the delay in deciding his plea for remission, the SC had said in September 2018 that the Tamil Nadu Governor had the right to decide on his petition.
• Since Governor and Centre kept the remission petitions pending, the Supreme Court used its extraordinary powers “for doing complete justice” under Article 142 of the Constitution and released all 7 convicts (1 earlier in May)

Article 142-

• Article 142 (“Enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme Court and orders as to discovery, etc.”) says “the Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe.”
• Essentially, this provision of the Constitution gives the country’s top court-wide powers to do “complete justice” in a case.

5 . Places of Worship Act

Context– A Special Bench allowed the Hindu parties to approach the Varanasi District Court for consolidation of all suits concerning the dispute around the Gyanvapi mosque. It also directed the protection of an area in which a ‘shivling’ was reportedly found inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises to continue until further orders. Earlier on September 12, the District Judge had dismissed the maintainability plea of the Muslim parties, adding that the suit was not barred by the Places of Worship Act.

About Places of Worship Act-

• It is described as “An Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

Important Provisions of the Act-

• Section 3 of the Act bars the conversion, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination — or even a different segment of the same religious denomination.
• Section 4(1) declares that the religious character of a place of worship “shall continue to be the same as it existed” on August 15, 1947.
• Section 4(2) says any suit or legal proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place of worship existing on August 15, 1947, pending before any court, shall abate — and no fresh suit or legal proceedings shall be instituted.
• Section 5 stipulates that the Act shall not apply to the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, and to any suit, appeal or proceeding relating to it.

Exemptions to the provisions of the Act-

• Any place of worship which is an ancient and historical monument, or an archaeological site covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
• A suit that has been finally settled or disposed of.
• Any dispute that has been settled by the parties or conversion of any place that took place by acquiescence before the Act commenced.

Challenges and Criticisms-

• The law has been challenged on the ground that it bars judicial review, which is a basic feature of the Constitution, imposes an “arbitrary irrational retrospective cutoff date”, and abridges the right to religion of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs.
• Criticized on the ground that it violates the Principle of Secularism.
• The Act had kept out the land which was the subject matter of the Ayodhya dispute from its purview.

Supreme Court’s views on the Act during the Ayodhya judgement-

• In the 2019 Ayodhya verdict, the Constitution Bench referred to the law and said it manifests the secular values of the Constitution and prohibits retrogression.
• The law is hence a legislative instrument designed to protect the secular features of the Indian polity, which is one of the basic features of the Constitution.

6 . Kisan Rail Scheme

Context– Punjab has agreed to supply paddy straw to Kerala for use as fodder for livestock as the dairy sector in the southern State faces an acute shortage of green fodder and hay. The two States have agreed to transport paddy straw to Kerala using the Centre’s Kisan Rail scheme.

About the scheme-

• The scheme was envisaged as part of ‘modernization of agriculture’ and announced under Budget 2020-21. The budget provided for the Kisan Rail service and the Krishi Udaan scheme.
• Kisan Rails are the first ever multi commodity trains. Earlier, Indian Railways had run single commodity special trains like Banana Specials etc.
• These trains with refrigerated coaches will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time.

Features-

• This is multi-commodity, multi-consignor/consignee, multi-loading/unloading transportation product which is aimed at providing wider market to Kisan.
• The first Kisan Rail train was flagged-off on 07.08.2020 between Devlali (Maharashtra) and Danapur (Bihar).
• The Kisan Rail trains are run on time-tabled paths, and their punctuality is strictly monitored to avoid any en-route detentions and delays.
• Enables movement of perishables including fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fishery and dairy products from production or surplus regions to consumption or deficient regions
• 50 percent subsidy is given in freight (being borne by Ministry of Food Processing Industries under ‘Operation Greens – TOP to Total’ scheme) for transportation of fruits and vegetables;
• No minimum limit on quantity that can be booked, enabling even small and marginal farmers to reach bigger and distant markets.

Significance-

• These trains are a step towards realising the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022.
• The trains will cut down costs- as freight of these trains will be charged as per parcel tariff of normal trains.
  • Example- The Devlai-Danapur train (a weekly service) is expected to reduce transportation costs by Rs. 1000 per tonne compared with roadways and reduce travel time by around 15 hours.
• The scheme provides greater accessibility to even small farmers-
  • Any farmer or any other interested party can directly book their consignments in trains, without any lower limit on the size of consignment.
  • The consignment can be as small as 50-100 kgs, and can be booked from any stopping station to any other stopping station – giving full flexibility.

7 . Facts for Prelims

Kashi Tamil Sangamam

• The month-long ‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’ programme is scheduled to be held in Varanasi between November 16 and December 19.
• The Kashi Tamil Sangamam will be organised by Ministry of Education to rediscover the bond of knowledge and ancient civilisational links between Kashi and Tamil Nadu.
• It will be a celebration of the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and will also celebrate the beautiful Tamil language as well as culture.
• The month-long programme will include interactive sessions, debates, and seminars on the ancient and traditional links between the two cultures.
• The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) will serve as knowledge partners for the Kashi Tamil Sangamam.
• As part of this programme, people from Tamil Nadu belonging to 12 different clusters have been invited, which include Art, Literature, Spirituality, and Education to Varanasi as special guests.

National Gallery of Modern Art-

• The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is the premier art gallery under Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
• The main museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on 29 March 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent branches at Mumbai and Bangalore.
• Its collection of more than 1700 works by 2000 plus artists includes artists such as Thomas Daniell, Raja Ravi Verma, Abanindranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil as well as foreign artists.
•  Some of the oldest works preserved here date back to 1857.
•  The Delhi branch is one of the world’s largest modern art museums.

‘No Money for Terror’ Conference-

• The Ministry of Home Affairs will be organising the Third Ministerial ‘No Money for Terror’ Conference on November 18 and 19 this year in New Delhi, India.
• The conference that was first held In Paris in 2018, followed by Melbourne in 2019 will be held in Delhi on November 18-19 after gap of two years due to the travel restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The conference aims to progress the discussions on combating terrorist financing held by the international community in the previous two conferences in Paris and Melbourne.
• It also intends to include discussions on technical, legal, regulatory and cooperation aspects of all facets of terrorism financing.
• The event will witness participation from over 75 countries.
• Discussions at the 3rd NMFT conference will focus on global trends of terrorism and terrorist financing, emerging technologies’ role in terrorism financing and importance of global cooperation to address related challenges.
• It will focus on the role of cryptocurrency in funding terrorist activities. It will deliberate on the concerns related the decentralized nature and the lack of regulation of cryptocurrencies.
• The focus will also be given to dark web’s role in promoting transfer or crowdsourcing of funds for terrorism.
• It also aims to strengthen the role of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in setting global standards that can create an effective mechanism to combat terror funding.

Birsa Munda-

• Birsa Munda  was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe.
• Born on November 15, 1875, Birsa spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) in the late 19th century, during the British Raj.
• Birsa received his education in Salga under the guidance of his teacher Jaipal Nag.
• Later, Birsa converted into a Christian to join the German Mission School but soon dropped out after finding out that Britishers were aiming to convert tribals to Christianity through education.
• After dropping out of school, Birsa Munda created a faith called ‘Birsait’.
• Soon members of the Munda and Oraon community started joining the Birsait sect and it turned into a challenge to British conversion activities.
• On March 3, 1900, Birsa Munda was arrested by the British police while he was sleeping with his tribal guerilla army at Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur.
• He died in Ranchi jail on June 9, 1900 at a young age of 25.
• Though he lived a short span of life and the fact that the movement died out soon after his death, Birsa Munda is known to have mobilised the tribal community against the British and had also forced the colonial officials to introduce laws protecting the land rights of the tribals.

Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology

• Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology was established on October 01, 1961, in pursuance of a Presidential Order dated April 27, 1960, with the objective to evolve technical terminology in all Indian Languages.
• The Commission was established under clause 44 of Article 344 of the Constitution of India as a follow up of recommendations of a committee in this regard.
• Its objective is of evolving and defining scientific and technical terms in Hindi and all Indian languages.
• The main function of the Commission is to evolve standard terminology, propagate its use and distribute it widely.
• In the process of evolution of scientific and technical terminology and reference material in Hindi and Indian Languages, the Commission shall have collaboration of State Governments, Universities, Regional Text-Book Boards and State Granth Academies.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi.

Pandava Gullu-

• Tirupati district is dotted with anthropomorphic burial sites, said to be the largest as a collection in Andhra Pradesh.
• Anthropomorphic sites are those marked by a representation of human form above the megalithic burials.
• The most prominent one is the ‘pillared dolmen’ of the megalithic era, found at Mallayyagaripalle, nestling on a hillock between Chandragiri and Dornakambala, in Tirupati.
• The structure locally referred to as ‘Pandava Gullu’ or ‘Pandavula Banda’ in memory of the Pandavas, is estimated to be 2,500 years old.
• This could be an indication to the presence of humans living in groups during the megalithic period (300–500 BC) in this region

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence

• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence is the apex anti-smuggling agency of India, working under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• It is tasked with detecting and curbing smuggling of contraband, including drug trafficking and illicit international trade in wildlife and environmentally sensitive items, as well as combating commercial frauds related to international trade and evasion of Customs duty.                                  
• DRI was constituted in the year 1957 post-independence of India.
• DRI enforces the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and over fifty other allied Acts including the Arms Act, NDPS Act, COFEPOSA (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities), Wildlife Act, Antiquities Act, etc.
• It undertakes collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of intelligence relating to smuggling, carries out investigations, adjudication of cases and prosecution of the arrested persons.
•  The DRI has also been designated as the lead agency for S-CORD, the national anti-smuggling coordination centre. 

Himalayan Gray Langur-

• Also known as the Chamba Sacred Langur ( Semnopithecus ajax), Himalayan Gray langur is a colobine, meaning leaf-eating monkey.
• It is considered an endangered species globally as its population is estimated to be less than 1,500 mature individuals in 15-20 groups.
• The Himalayan Gray Langur was once considered a sub-species of the Semnopithecus entellus, commonly known as the Bengal Sacred Langur or Hanuman Langur, but it was separated as a species in 2005.
• It is distributed in a varied habitat including dry savannah and tropical rain forests.
• They inhabit areas between 2,200-4,000 metres above mean sea level in the subtropical, tropical moist temperate, alpine, coniferous and broadleaved forests and scrublands.
• In the Indian Subcontinent, their distribution is reported from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and from Pakistan and Nepal.
• Generally, the Himalayan Grey Langur is known to be dependent on agricultural land, particularly in the Khajjiar area during the harvesting season.
• A study by scientists reveals that differences in altitude make these primate species in the same Himalayan habitat choose between flowers and fruits as food options beyond their staple menu of leaves.
  • The preference for fruits or flowers “may depend upon the difference in their distribution in terms of elevation and availability of a particular plant part”.
• Note- Langurs are an important species as they occupy a key position in the food chains of many forest ecosystems. In India, most langurs comes under the genus Semnopithecus.

Kalatop-Khajjiar Wildlife Sanctuary

• Kalatop Khajjiar Sanctuary, or simply Kalatop Sanctuary, is a 30.69 km² animal sanctuary at Kalatop and Khajjiar in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, India.
• The vegetation consists of blue pine and deodar forest, with oak. Undergrowth in the forest area is well developed.
• Mammals- bear, Himalayan Black Marten, leopard, deer, Barking Goral, squirrel, serow, jackal, langur.
• Birds- Blackbird, Eurasian Jay, Whitewinged Black Bird, Black Headed Jay etc