Daily Current Affairs : 19th & 20th December 2023

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Telecommunication Bill 2023
2. MRNA
3. Arctic Research
4. Key Provisions of PWD Act
5. Facts for Prelims 

1 . Telecommunication Bill 2023

Context: Omnibus Telecom Bill in Lok Sabha, legislation to streamline regulation.  

About the Bill

• The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, introduced in the Lok Sabha proposes the first comprehensive rewrite of telecommunications law in 138 years, consolidating spectrum rules, right of way, dispute resolution between service providers and the Department of Telecommunications or local governments, and other aspects of telecom regulation into one fresh statute. 
• The Bill will replace the Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950. 

Highlights of the Telecom Bill

• The Bill seeks to simplify the current licensing regime for telecom networks by moving towards an authorisation system. 
• Currently, the telecom department issues more than 100 types of licences, registrations, and permissions, and the Bill seeks to club many of those in a single authorisation process. 
• While auctions will continue to be the preferred norm of assigning spectrum to entities, but outside of satellite communications, administrative allocation will be done for sectors like metro rails, community radio, defence, railways, and police, among others. 
• The Bill also allows the government to take back spectrum that is unutilised for insufficient reasons and also opens the door for sharing, trading, and leasing of spectrum. Entities will be able to surrender unused spectrum, but will not receive payment from the government for it. 
• A voluntary undertaking mechanism to facilitate voluntary disclosure of inadvertent lapses and to facilitate compliance has been introduced. A tiered structure for settling disputes arising out of breach of terms and conditions involving an adjudicating officer, designated committee of appeals and the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on top. 
• Entities have been mandated to carry out biometric authentication of their users as a measure to curb fraud. The provision has raised concerns about the privacy of users. 
• The Bill empowers the central and state governments or a specially authorised officer to seek interception, disclosure, and suspension powers in case of a public emergency or interest or safety. Press messages, meant for publication in India and of correspondents accredited to state or central governments, have been exempted from interception, although they can be intercepted for national security reasons. 
• The Bill also empowers the Centre to take over control and management of telecommunication services and networks in the interest of national security, or in the event of a war. 
• It also lays down eligibility requirements for the chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to be appointed from the private sector.  

Interception of Messages in the interest of National Security

• It allows the government to take over telecom services and intercept messages in the interests of national security and in case of emergencies. 
• It states that on the occurrence of any public emergency, including disaster management, or in the interest of public safety, the Central Government or a State Government or any officer specially authorised in this behalf by the Central Government or a State Government, if satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, by notification—
  • Take temporary possession of any telecommunication service or telecommunication network from an authorised entity;
  • Provide for appropriate mechanism to ensure that messages of a user or group of users authorised for response and recovery during public emergency are routed on priority. 
• The press messages, intended to be published in India, of correspondents accredited to the Central Government or a State Government shall not be intercepted or detained, unless their transmission has been prohibited. 
• If it appears necessary or expedient so to do in the public interest, the Central Government may direct any authorised entity to transmit in its telecommunication services or telecommunication network, specific messages, in such manner as may be specified.  

2 . mRNA

Context: Because it is so easy to change the mRNA recipes, cancer vaccines can be part of a personalised medicine plan where doctors sample a patient’s tumour, sequence key genes and adjust the mRNA treatment to include recipes specific to that patient’s cancer. 

About mRNA

• The “m” stands for messenger, as mRNA contains the message, or recipe, that codes for a protein. 
• About one-third of a cell’s energy is devoted to maintaining the proteins you need, so cells are well equipped to recognise, use and then destroy mRNA once it’s no longer needed. 
• The language of mRNA is made of four building blocks called nucleotides, nicknamed A, U, C and G. 
•  The recipe to make a protein contains only three-letter words, meaning there are just 64 possible words.  
• Scientists know exactly which words correspond to each protein building block, so they can easily read an mRNA recipe and know what protein will be made.  
• Mutations in the DNA cookbook can alter or delete an mRNA recipe, leading to disease-causing mistakes in critical proteins. 

Why do mRNAs make great medicine? 

• While mRNA has been within us all along, it took decades of research for scientists to understand how cells recognise mRNA and use it to make protein. But it eventually became clear that mRNA could be a powerful medical tool. 
• Since scientists understand how mRNAs code for proteins, they can easily create recipes for any protein. These recipes can be edited to meet the needs of the patient, whether this means providing a whole new mRNA recipe or tweaking an existing one to make a slight variation of the protein. 
• Producing mRNA treatments is also scalable because scientists can make large amounts of mRNA in the lab. 
• The method to make one mRNA is the same for all mRNAs, unlike typical drugs where each compound has its own unique chemistry and requires different manufacturing methods.  
• Another benefit of using mRNAs as drugs are cells’ natural ability to destroy them when they aren’t needed. Since mRNAs aren’t permanent, doses can be easily changed to meet the changing needs of the patient. 

mRNA vaccines beyond COVID-19 

• The COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are the first mRNA-based medicines to gain FDA approval. When these vaccines are injected into the arm, the mRNA is absorbed into some of the cells, which read the mRNA recipe and make the spike protein the virus uses to invade cells. The immune system recognises this spike protein as foreign and makes antibodies that prepare your body to attack the virus if encountered later. 
• These mRNA vaccines demonstrate the flexibility of mRNA-based therapies. As the virus that causes COVID-19 mutates, new viral variants can evade existing antibodies and cause new waves of illness. 
• However, scientists are able to sequence new mRNA recipes based on these variants and tweak the vaccine recipes to match them. Boosters containing these edited recipes teach the body to make new antibodies that target the latest versions of the viral spike protein. 
• There are already clinical trials underway for other mRNA-based vaccines, including vaccines for seasonal flu, herpes and respiratory syncytial virus. 
• There are also many more vaccines in earlier stages of development to combat diseases like norovirus, Lyme disease, Zika and shingles. 

mRNA as treatment for disease 

• The potential for mRNA-based medicine extends beyond vaccines to prevent infectious disease. One example is the use of mRNA to treat cancer. 
• Some mRNA cancer treatments work like vaccines by training the immune system to specifically target cancer cells. As cancer cells grow, they rapidly gain mutations in many genes. Cancer vaccines contain mRNA recipes based on mutations commonly found in certain types of tumours. When injected into the body, the mRNAs from the vaccines allow normal cells to make those mutated proteins and broadcast them to the immune system, ramping up production of antibodies. These antibodies bind to cancer cells and mark them for immune attack. 
• Finding the correct protein target for a given cancer is essential. Ideally, the target is unique to the cancer cell so the immune system doesn’t attack healthy cells. The target protein should also be easy for the immune system to sense, making surface proteins good targets. Cancer vaccines, like BioNTech’s BNT-111 for melanoma, target the most common cancer mutations in the hope of helping many patients. But patients won’t benefit from the treatment if their cancer cells don’t have those particular mutations. 
• Because it is so easy to change the mRNA recipes, cancer vaccines can be part of a personalised medicine plan where doctors sample a patient’s tumour, sequence key genes and adjust the mRNA treatment to include recipes specific to that patient’s cancer. Clinical trials using this personalised approach for pancreatic cancer are underway. 

Future of mRNA-based medicine: 

• Many diseases arise from cells making the wrong protein, a mutant version of protein or too little of the normal protein. If scientists can deliver a corrected version of the mRNA recipe to enough affected cells, then the mRNA will provide the means to make the proper protein. 
• Scientists are exploring the use of mRNA to treat heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, bone loss and much more. Although most of these studies are still very early in development, they provide hope for future treatments using mRNA for protein replacement therapies. For example, one mRNA drug increases the formation of new blood vessels, which can improve wound healing in diabetic patients who have poor blood circulation and higher amputation risks. Another example is using mRNAs to treat propionic acidaemia, a disease where children have low levels of two liver proteins that normally prevent toxic by-products from building up in the body. 
• The ability to easily customise and produce mRNA increases their potential as effective, personalised therapies, with fewer side effects, that can help many people. 

3 . Arctic Research

Context: Starting this season, the Indian research base Himadri has been specially equipped to perform observations, with special winter gear/clothing and other technical support.  

Bases in the Arctic

• At least 10 countries have set up permanent facilities at the International Arctic Research base in Ny-Ålesund, a small town above the 78th parallel N, about 1,200 km from the North Pole. The Svalbard group of islands is the closest human habitation to the North Pole. 
• The mean temperature in Ny-Ålesund in February, the coldest month, is minus 14 degree Celsius, and that in July, the warmest, is 5 degree Celsius. 
• Due to the extreme cold, taking scientific observations or sampling has remained largely limited to the summer months. India will join a small group of countries that operate their Arctic research bases through the winter. 

Arctic research

• The polar regions, Arctic and Antarctica, offer pristine environments for scientists to study a range of natural phenomena for atmospheric, oceanic, biological, geological, glaciological and earth sciences research. In recent years, climate change research has been attracting scientists to the Arctic region. 
• The area above the Arctic Circle, north of latitude 66° 34’ N, is part of eight countries — Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the US — who make up the Arctic Council, plus the Arctic Ocean. 
• Scientific research in the Arctic region is governed by international legal instruments like the Svalbard Treaty of 1920 and the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, apart from the individual jurisdictions of the Arctic countries. 

Impact of warming 

• Temperatures in the Arctic region have risen by about 4 degree Celsius on average over the last 100 years; 2023 was the warmest year on record.  
• The extent of Arctic sea-ice has been declining at the rate of 13 per cent/ decade, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. At this rate, the Arctic could become ice-free in less than 20 years. 
• The melting sea ice can have global impacts reaching beyond the Arctic region. Rising sea levels can influence atmospheric circulation. An increase in tropical sea surface temperatures could lead to increased precipitation in the tropics, a shift in the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, and high chances of an increase in extreme rainfall events. 
• On the other hand, milder weather due to global warming could make the Arctic a more habitable and a less hostile place. There could be a rush to explore and exploit the Arctic’s resources, including its minerals, and countries will seek to control trade, navigation and other strategic sectors in the region. 

India in the Arctic  

• India signed the Svalbard Treaty in Paris in 1920. But it took until 2007 for the first Indian expedition comprising five scientists to visit the International Arctic Research Facilities at Ny-Ålesund with the purpose of initiating studies in Arctic microbiology, atmospheric sciences, and geology. 
• India’s permanent research station, Himadri, began operations in July 2008.  
• Himadri, which is currently manned for about 180 days every year, has so far hosted more than 400 Indian researchers who have made a total of about 200 visits to Svalbard. 
• The winter expedition by four scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, IIT-Mandi, Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru, and National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa, the nodal agency for India’s polar explorations, will last until January 15, 2024.  
• The research areas will include atmospheric sciences, astronomy, astrophysics, and climate studies. Scientists will study lightning over the Arctic in winter, the role of precipitation in climate change, characterisation of radio frequency environment, and the role of aerosols on climate change. 
• Himadri has been equipped for observations during polar nights (that last longer than 24 hours), and supplied with special winter gear, transport, and logistics support from Norwegian agencies. 

4 . Provisions of PWD Act 2016

Context: People with blood disorders such as thalassemia, haemophilia and sickle cell disease are not eligible for reservation in government jobs under the Persons with Disabilities category, the Social Justice Ministry told Parliament. 

About the news

• Minister of State for Social Justice Pratima Bhoumik said that under Section 34 of the law, “persons with blood disorders including Thalassemia are not eligible for reservation in jobs in government establishments”. 
• The three diseases were included on the list of disabilities under the Right to Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016, which had led activists to believe at the time that benefits such as reservation would follow. 
• Activists say it defeats the entire purpose of having included them on the list. 
• The Centre said the 4% quota in government jobs was available for those with no vision and low vision; no hearing and low hearing; locomotor disability, including cerebral palsy; leprosy cured; dwarfism; muscular dystrophy; autism, and intellectual disability; acid attack victims; and others. 

Provisions of PWD Act 2016

• The list of disabilities has been expanded from 7 to 21 conditions and it now also includes cerebral palsy, dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, acid attack victims, hard of hearing, speech and language disability, specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, chronic neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, blood disorders such as haemophilia, thalassemia, and sickle cell anaemia, and multiple disabilities. 
• The nomenclature mental retardation is replaced by intellectual disability.  
• The Act provides an elaborate definition of mental illness which is “a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, and capacity to recognize reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life but does not include retardation which is a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person, especially characterized by subnormality of intelligence.” 
• Persons with benchmark disabilities are defined as those with at least 40% of any of the above disability. 
• It provides that “the appropriate Government shall ensure that the PWD enjoy the right to equality, life with dignity, and respect for his or her own integrity equally with others.” The Government is to take steps to utilize the capacity of the PWD by providing appropriate environment. 
• Special measures are to be taken to ensure women and children with disabilities enjoy rights equally with others. Measures are to be taken to protect the PWD from being subjected to cruelty, inhuman, and degrading treatments and from all forms of abuse, violence, and exploitation. 
• All Government institutions of higher education and those getting aid from the Government are required to reserve at least 5% of seats for persons with benchmark disabilities. 
• Four percent reservation for persons with benchmark disabilities is to be provided in posts of all Government establishments with differential quotas for different forms of disabilities. 
• Chief Commissioner and two Commissioners for PWD are to be appointed by the Central Government at the central level for the purposes of the Act. Similarly, State Commissioners for PWD are to be appointed by the State Governments.

5 . Facts for Prelims

Swades 2 Scheme

• Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, thirteen thematic circuits have been identified, for development namely: North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit. 
• The scheme was completely funded by the central government of India. There are 13 cities that are under consideration of development. These 13 cities are all pilgrimage sites.
• There are 13 tourist circuits that are proposed and started under the scheme. Under these 13 circuits there are many cities and sites are added for the visitors to get down there and enjoy their holiday.
• The scheme is a joint venture by the Central Government and Ministry of Tourism. By launching the scheme both the ministry will be able to develop the heritage cities of the nation and conserve them for the tourists from across the globe.
• Objectives
  • To position tourism as a major engine of economic growth and job creation;
  • Develop circuits having tourist potential in a planned and prioritized manner;
  • Promote cultural and heritage value of the country to generate livelihoods in the identified regions;
  • Enhancing the tourist attractiveness in a sustainable manner by developing world class infrastructure in the circuit/destinations;
  • Follow community based development and pro-poor tourism approach;
  • Creating awareness among the local communities about the importance of tourism for them in terms of increased sources of income, improved living standards and overall development of the area.
  • To create employment through active involvement of local communities;
  • Harness tourism potential for its effects in employment generation and economic development.
  • To make full use of the potential and advantages in terms of available infrastructure, national culture and characteristic strong points of each and every region throughout the country by development of theme based circuits.
  • Development of tourist facilitation services to enhance visitor experience/satisfaction.

PRASAD Scheme

•  The full form of the PRASAD scheme is ‘Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive’. Scheme focuses on developing and identifying pilgrimage sites across India for enriching the religious tourism experience. It aims to integrate pilgrimage destinations in a prioritised, planned and sustainable manner to provide a complete religious tourism experience. The growth of domestic tourism hugely depends on pilgrimage tourism. 
• For tapping the potential of pilgrimage tourism, there is a need for holistic development of the selected pilgrimage destinations by the government along with the cooperation of other stakeholders. The PRASAD scheme aims at paving the way for the development and promotion of religious tourism in India.
  • Under the PRASAD scheme thirteen sites have been identified for development, namely: Amritsar, Ajmer, Dwaraka, Mathura, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Amaravati, Kanchipuram, Vellankanni, Kedarnath, Kamakhya and Patna. 
• With the mantra of ‘vocal for local’, the revamped scheme namely Swadesh Darshan 2.0 seeks to attain “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” by realizing India’s full potential as a tourism destination.  Swadesh Darshan 2.0 is not an incremental change but a generational shift to evolve the Swadesh Darshan Scheme as a holistic mission to develop sustainable and responsible tourism destinations. 

NSFDC

• The National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) was set up in 1989 as a Company  “not for profit” under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013. 
• It was set up with the objective of financing income generating activities of SC beneficiaries having annual family income upto Rs. 3.00 lakh. 
• NSFDC assists the target group by way of loans, Skill Training, Entrepreneurship Development Programmes and providing Marketing Support through State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs), RRBs, Public Sector Bank & other institutions. 

Indian Science Congress

• The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) owes its origin to the foresight and initiative of two British Chemists, namely, Professor J. L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon.  
• It occurred to them that scientific research in India might be stimulated if an annual meeting of research workers somewhat on the lines of the British Association for the Advancement of Science could be arranged. 
• Objectives :  
  • To advance and promote the cause of science in India 
  • To hold an annual congress at a suitable place in India 
  • To publish such proceedings, journals, transactions and other publications as may be considered desirable. 
  • To secure and manage funds and endowments for the promotion of Science inlcuding the rights of disposing of or selling all or any portion of the properties of the Association. 
  • To do and perform any or all other acts, matters and things as are conductive to, or incidental to, or necessary for, the above objects. 
  • The first meeting of the Congress was held in 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.  
• The first meeting of the Congress was held from January 15-17, 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, with the Honourable Justice Sir Asutosh Mukherjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University, as President. One hundred and five scientists from different parts of India and abroad attended and the papers numbering 35 were divided into six sections-Botany, Chemistry, Ethnography, Geology, Physics, Zoology under six Sectional Presidents. 
• From this modest beginning with hundred and five members and thirty five papers communicated for reading at the first session, ISCA has grown into a strong fraternity with more than sixty thousand members till to date.
• The number of papers communicated for reading has risen to nearly two thousand. Upto 2000 there were Sixteen sections,two committes and six forums.

 Red Sea

• The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. 
• Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. 
•  To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Suez Canal). It is underlain by the Red Sea Rift, which is part of the Great Rift Valley. 
• It is bordered by: Djibouti, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Eritrea and Yemen.  

Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs)

• Alternative Investment Fund or AIF is a privately pooled investment vehicle that invests in alternative asset classes such as private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, real estate, commodities, and derivatives. 
• Generally, HNIs (High net worth individuals) and institutions invest in the AIFs as the investment amount is substantially higher. 
• AIFs are regulated by the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). As per the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, an AIF can be set up as a trust, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a corporate body. However, many of the AIFs that have been registered with SEBI are in the form of trusts. 
• AIFs can be further divided into three categories, such as:  
  • Category I AIF: This category of AIF invests in start-ups, early-stage ventures, social ventures, SMEs, or infrastructure or other sectors considered socially or economically beneficial by the government or regulators fall into this category. It may be further classified into: Venture capital funds (Including Angel Funds), SME Funds, Social Venture Funds, Infrastructure funds 
  • Category II AIF: These are the AIFs that do not fall under categories I and III. They do not use leverage or debts other than to cover their day-to-day operational expenses. Some of the funds included in the Category II are: Private Equity Funds,and Debt Funds.
  • Category III AIF: These AIFs use complex trading strategies in their investment. It may use leverage or debt for investment in listed or unlisted derivatives. Some of the funds included in Category III are: Private Investment in Public Equity Fund (PIPE) and Hedge Fund.  

Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS)   

• Under the Open Market Sale Scheme, the FCI from time to time sells surplus food grains from the central pool especially wheat and rice in the open market to traders, bulk consumers, retail chains and so on at pre-determined prices. 
• The Corporation does this through e-auctions where open market bidders can buy specified quantities at the prices set at the start of a cycle and revised routinely.  
• Usually, states are also allowed to procure food grains through the OMSS without participating in the auctions, for their needs beyond what they get from the central pool to distribute to NFSA beneficiaries.  
• The idea is to activate the OMSS during the lean season, the time between harvests, to improve and regulate domestic supply and availability of the two grains and bring down their prices in the open market; essentially making the scheme a measure to curb food grain inflation.