Daily Current Affairs : 30th April

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Chickpea
2. Drug Resistant Disease
3. Emergency Financial Powers of Armed Forces
4. Committee to implement the National Clean Air Programme 
5. Facts for Prelims

1 . Chickpea

Context : An international team led by the Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has identified in chickpea four important genes for heat tolerance and three important genes for drought tolerance.

About Chickpea

• The chickpea or chick pea is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae.
• Its different types are variously known as gram or Bengal gram, garbanzoor, garbanzo bean and Egyptian pea
• Chickpea seeds are high in protein
• In India, chickpea is generally sown in September-October and harvested in January-February

Background of Chickpea

• The study has found that chickpea originated in the Mediterranean/south-west Asia and migrated to south Asia.
• It reached India about two centuries ago, apparently through Afghanistan. In parallel, it migrated from the Mediterranean to east Africa and central Asia.
• The study provides insights into chickpea’s genetic diversity, domestication 

About the Findings

• International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has identified in chickpea four important genes for heat tolerance and three important genes for drought tolerance.
• The study was based on complete genome sequencing of 429 chickpea lines from 45 countries.

Importance of the New varieties

• More than 90% of chickpea cultivation area is in South Asia, including India. Globally, more than 70% yield is lost due to drought and increasing temperatures. Chickpea is a cool season crop, so in general any further increase in temperature is expected to further reduce the yield.
• With rising temperatures and increasing climatic fluctuations due to climate change, the identification of these climate-resistant genes will help in developing newer chickpea varieties which can tolerate temperatures up to 38 °C.
• Identification of other genes with important agromic traits will help in increasing the yield and providing better resistance to pests and diseases.
• With the identification of the heat- and drought-tolerant genes, it will be possible to cross a chickpea landrace carrying those genes with a variety and select only those lines (progenies) with the genetic markers that have the heat and drought tolerance genes. By using such genomics-assisted breeding approach, the time taken to produce a new heat- and drought-tolerant chickpea variety can be halved from about eight to four years
• Currently, in India, chickpea does not face a major threat from increasing temperature. But we are already witnessing a slight warming during the months of January and February. So a new variety with heat and drought tolerance will be highly useful to Indian farmers. When heat-tolerant chickpeas are developed in future, farmers in India may have a possibility to go in for a second round of cropping. Though the yield will be less for the second crop, farmers will still stand to gain

2 . Drug Resistant Disease

Context : Drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050, warned the UN Ad Hoc Interagency Coordinating Group on Antimicrobial Resistance in a report released on Monday.

What is antimicrobial resistance?

• Antimicrobial resistance happens when microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites) change when they are exposed to antimicrobial drugs (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarials, and anthelmintics).
• Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.
• As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others

What accelerates the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance?

• Antimicrobial resistance occurs naturally over time, usually through genetic changes. However, the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials is accelerating this process.
• In many places, antibiotics are overused and misused in people and animals, and often given without professional oversight. Examples of misuse include when they are taken by people with viral infections like colds and flu, and when they are given as growth promoters in animals or used to prevent diseases in healthy animals.
• Antimicrobial resistant-microbes are found in people, animals, food, and the environment (in water, soil and air). They can spread between people and animals, including from food of animal origin, and from person to person.
• Poor infection control, inadequate sanitary conditions and inappropriate food-handling encourage the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

About the Report

• By 2030, antimicrobial resistance could force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty.
• Currently, at least 7,00,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases, including 2,30,000 people who die from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
• It also noted that more and more common diseases, including respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and urinary tract infections, are becoming untreatable; lifesaving medical procedures are becoming riskier, and food systems are getting increasingly precarious.
• The report noted that the world was already feeling the economic and health consequences as crucial medicines become ineffective. Without investment from countries in all income brackets, future generations will face the disastrous impacts of uncontrolled antimicrobial resistance.
• Report has recommended that countries prioritise national action plans to scale-up financing and capacity-building efforts, put in place stronger regulatory systems and support awareness programs for responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials by professionals in human, animal and plant health and invest in ambitious research and development for new technologies to combat antimicrobial resistance.

Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG)

• The September 2016 Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance called for the establishment of the Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG), in consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
• The IACG’s mandate is to provide practical guidance for approaches needed to ensure sustained effective global action to address antimicrobial resistance; and to report back to the UN Secretary-General in 2019.
• The IACG Secretariat is hosted by WHO, with contributions from FAO and OIE.

3 . Emergency Financial Powers of Armed Forces

Context : The Army is in the process of procuring Spike-LR Anti-Tank Missiles from Israel and Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence Systems (VSHORAD) from Russia through a set of new financial powers for emergency procurements sanctioned by the Defence Ministry earlier this month, defence sources said.

About the Emergency Financial Powers of Armed Forces

• After Pulwama attack New Emergency Financial Powers were approved by MoD for three services
• Armed forces have been given a free hand to procure equipment worth upto Rs. 300 crore on a priority basis.
• Entirely new systems not in use can also be procured under the new powers
• Two deals under the new method has been initiated- Spike LR Anti tank Missile from Israel and Igla S Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORAD) from Russia

4 . Committee to implement the National Clean Air Programme 

Context : The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a committee to implement the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aims to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution by 20%-30% in at least 102 cities by 2024.

About NCAP

• Objective of the NCAP is comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities.
• The tentative national level target of 20%–30% reduction of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentration by 2024 is proposed under the NCAP taking 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.
• NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year
• The approach for NCAP includes collaborative, multi-scale and cross-sectoral coordination between the relevant central ministries, state governments and local bodies. Dovetailing of the existing policies and programmes including the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and other initiatives of Government of India in reference to climate change will be done while execution of NCAP.
• City specific action plans are being formulated for 102 non-attainment cities identified for implementing mitigation actions under NCAP. Cities have already prepared action plans in consultation with CPCB.
• Institutional Framework at Centre and State Level comprising of Apex Committee at the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change in the Centre and at Chief Secretary Level in the States are to be constituted.
• Other features of NCAP include, increasing number of monitoring stations in the country including rural monitoring stations, technology support, emphasis on awareness and capacity building initiatives, setting up of certification agencies for monitoring equipment, source apportionment studies, emphasis on enforcement, specific sectoral interventions etc.

About the Committee

• The committee will be chaired by the Secretary, Union Environment Ministry and has among its members the Joint Secretary (Thermal), Ministry of Power; Director-General, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), the Delhi-based think-tank; and Professor Sachidananda Tripathi, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K).
• The committee would be headquartered in New Delhi and its remit includes ensuring “inter-ministerial organisation and cooperation, sharing information and resolving issues that could arise between ministries
• The committee would also give overall guidance and directions to effectively implement the programmes

5 . Facts for Prelims

Types of Muslim Veils