ART AND CULTURE

1. Explorer stumbles upon ‘graves’ of Chalukyan kings in Pattadakal                   

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS                                                                                    

1. India rejects RCEP e-commerce chapter                                                           

ECONOMY                                                                                                                

1. Dilution of S&D provisions for developing countries would lead to continuation of deadlock in WTO                                                                                            

2. SARAS Aajeevika Mela                                                                                      

3. World Bank cuts India’s growth projection to 6%, behind Bangladesh & Nepal 

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY                                                                  

1. An eel like the bhujia: Scientists in Kerala discover new subterranean fish species                                                                                                               

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY                                                                      

1. GM cotton seeds approved as food by U.S. regulators                                      

2. How do oxygen levels affect cell metabolism?                                                 

SECURITY                                                                                                              

1. Indo-Japan Joint Military Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN – 2019                   

2. Govt plans to amend Arms Act                                                                         

Explorer stumbles upon ‘graves’ of Chalukyan kings in Pattadakal

GS PAPER - 01 ART AND CULTURE - Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Context :

• Graves of Chalukyan rulers have been found in a village near Huligemmanakolla in Pattadakal of Karnataka’s district.

Key Highlights :

• The findings are significant since there are no clear details available of the places where Chalukyan rulers lived.

• Neither they have left behind documents nor evidence of their graves. It is believed that they wanted their death to remain a secret and built their graves in a discreet manner.

• Chalukyan kings were famous for building gigantic temples with intricate architecture which could be found at places such as Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal.

                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

India rejects RCEP e-commerce chapter

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• India’s hopes for retaining the right to implement data localization laws remain alive as Indian negotiators declined to agree to the e-commerce chapter of the RCEP agreement.

e-Commerce Chapter :

• The e-commerce chapter contains clauses which if India had agreed to them,would have prevented India from implementing data localisation rules on companies doing business in India.

  • This would go against the RBI’s norms on the localisation of payments data that it had ordered in April 2018.

•  The section on transfers of information and processing of information says that “a party shall not take measures that prevent transfers of information, including transfers of data by electronic or other means, necessary for the conduct of the ordinary business of a financial service supplier.”

• Instead of the above provision , India has proposed that participating country can locate the computing facilities inside the country if it is meant to protect its essential security interests and national interests.

• However,India’s alternate proposal has been opposed by the 14 members of the 16-country RCEP countries.

                                                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

ECONOMY

Dilution of S&D provisions for developing countries would lead to continuation of deadlock in WTO

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

Context :

• India along with several other countries, including China and African nations, has cautioned against diluting special and differential treatment provisions related to developing countries, saying it would lead to "intractable deadlock" at the WTO.          

Issues with S&D Provisions :

• Currently, any WTO member can designate itself as a developing country and avail these benefits.

• In the case of least developed countries, the status is given as per the per capita income status of the UN.

• However,the US has opposed self-selection of the developing country status and demanded stopping of developing country concessions to several of these countries, including China and India.

• But India and the others have maintained that there was a need to ensure that S&D treatment remains as they are still home to a large number of poor and vulnerable sections.

                                                                                                              Source :- Business Standard

SARAS Aajeevika Mela

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - growth, development and employment.

Context :

• Union Minister of State for Rural Development inaugurated SARAS Aajeevika Mela.

SARAS Aajeevika Mela :

• SARAS Aajeevika Mela is an initiative by the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).

• The objective of this initiative is to bring the rural women Self Help Groups (SHGs) formed with the support of DAY-NRLM, under one platform to showcase their skills, sell their products and help them build linkages with bulk buyers.

• Through participation in SARAS Aajeevika Mela, these rural SHG women get vital national level exposure to understand the demand and taste of urban customers.

• The Mela is organised by the marketing arm of the Ministry, Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART).

• Workshops for the rural SHG women would be conducted during the Mela, which will help them to enhance their knowledge and sharpen their skills in bookkeeping and GST, product design, packaging, marketing/e-marketing, communication skills etc.

                                                                                                                                Source :- PIB

World Bank cuts India’s growth projection to 6%, behind Bangladesh & Nepal

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - growth, development and employment.

Context :

• The World Bank has released its South Asia Economic Focus report, 2019.

  • The report is titled “Exports Wanted”.It highlights the export potential of the South Asian region being not used to the fullest.

Key Highlights :

• The report says that Bangladesh and Nepal are growing faster than India.

• However, it said that India is still a fast-growing economy.

  • But it was relatively hit hard by the recent global economic slowdown.

• The report also said that South Asia will remain the fastest growing region in the world despite the report’s estimation of growth in South Asia to fall to 5% in 2019.

• The report has also highlighted that the exports growth of South Asia are accelerating and import growth is slowing.But it said that the South asian countries are exporting only a third of their potential

• Further,it also said that the Foreign Exchange reserves have declined in South Asian region.

Trade policy changes affecting South Asia:

• The garment industry of Bangladesh has benefited immensely from the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China

• United States had terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalised System of Preferences(GSP) Programme.

• Pakistan’s economy is slowing as the country passes through yet another macroeconomic crisis with high twin deficits and low international reserves.

• India – Pakistan trade tensions where India had withdrawn the Most Favored Nation(MFN) status to Pakistan after the Pulwama attack.

India Specific :

• India’s growth rate is projected to fall to 6 per cent

• The report says that the country was expected to gradually recover to 6.9 per cent in 2021 and 7.2 per cent in 2022 as it assumed that the monetary stance would remain accommodative, given benign price dynamics.

• The World Bank report noted that the current account deficit had widened to 2.1 per cent of the GDP in 2018-19 from 1.8 per cent a year before, mostly reflecting a deteriorating trade balance.

• The general government deficit is estimated to have widened by 0.2 percentage points to 5.9 per cent of the GDP in 2018-19.

• According to the World Bank, poverty has continued to decline, albeit possibly at a slower pace than earlier. Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, the poverty rate declined from 21.6 to 13.4 per cent

• Growth is expected to gradually recover to 6.9 per cent in 2020-21 and 7.2 per cent in 2021-22 as the cycle bottoms-out, rural demand benefits from the effects of income support schemes, investment responds to tax incentives and credit growth resumes. However, exports growth is expected to remain modest, as trade wars and slow global growth depresses external demand

Way forward :

• To mitigate these risks, the authorities require restoring the health of the financial sector through reforms of public sector banks’ governance and a gradual strengthening of the regulatory framework for NBFCs, while ensuring that solvent NBFCs retain access to adequate liquidity.

                                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

An eel like the bhujia: Scientists in Kerala discover new subterranean fish species

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• Researchers from Kerala have discovered a new species of eel-loach named ‘Pangio bhujia’ in Kozhikode district of state.

Pangio Bhujia:

• The species has been named ‘Pangio bhujia’ due to its resemblance to the North Indian snack, bhujia.

• It belongs to genus Pangio.

• Pangio Bhujia is a unique species of miniature well-dwelling subterranean fish.

• It is the first species of eel-loach in the world that has been discovered to be living in subterranean environments.

• Eel-loaches are generally found in fast-flowing streams in the south and the south-east Asia.

• It is approximately 3 centimetres long and pinkish-red in colour.It resides in purest waters of deep subterranean aquifers.

• It has several unique characters including absence of dorsal fin which has never been encountered in genus Pangio to which this new species belongs.

                                                                                                                   Source :- Indian Express

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GM cotton seeds approved as food by U.S. regulators

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Context :

• U.S. regulators gave the green light for genetically modified cotton to be used for human consumption, paving the way for a protein-packed new food source — edible cottonseed that tastes a bit like chickpeas

More in the news:

• It was developed by Texas A&M University scientists

• Ordinary cottonseed is unfit for humans and many animals to eat because it contains high levels of gossypol, a toxic chemical.

  • But the research team has used RNAi, or RNA interference, technology to “silence” a gene, virtually eliminating gossypol from cottonseed.

  • Gossypol was left at natural levels in the rest of the plant because it guards against insects and disease.

• It can be eaten as food for people and all types of animals.

Significance :

• The genetic modification does not affect the plant’s fiber for use in textiles

• It could help tackle global malnutrition.

                                                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

How do oxygen levels affect cell metabolism?

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the field of Bio technology

Context :

• The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three scientists, William G. Kaelin Jr. from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Maryland, U.S., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe from Francis Crick Institute, London, and Gregg L. Semenza from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering for their discovery of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.

• The three scientists have uncovered the genetic mechanisms that allow cells to respond to varying levels of oxygen.

Why is it important ?

• Oxygen is used by all cells to convert food to useful energy.

  • While oxygen is essential for the survival of cells, excess or too little oxygen can lead to adverse health consequences.

  • Oxygen supply temporarily reduces in muscles during intense exercise and under such conditions the cells adapt their metabolism to low oxygen levels. Proper growth of the foetus and placenta depends on the ability of the cells to sense oxygen.

• Drugs have already been developed to treat Anaemia by making the body produce increased number of red blood cells.

• Similarly, drugs to increase oxygen availability in people with heart disease and lung cancer are being tested.

  • Many diseases can be treated by increasing the function of a particular pathway of the oxygen-sensing machinery.

• At the same time, inhibiting or blocking the pathway will have implications in treating cancer, heart attack, stroke and pulmonary hypertension.

• Cancers are known to hijack the oxygen-regulation machinery to stimulate blood vessel formation and also re-programme the metabolism in order to adapt to low oxygen conditions.

  • The reprogramming of metabolism gives cancer cells the plasticity to shift from a state where they have limited potential to cause cancer to a state when they have greater potential for long-term growth.

  • Efforts are under way to develop drugs that can block the oxygen-sensing machinery of cancer cells to kill them.

What do we know already ?

• The rate at which we respire depends on the amount of oxygen being carried in the blood.

• Specialised cells present next to large blood vessels in the neck sense the blood oxygen level and alert the brain to increase the rate of respiration when the oxygen level in the blood goes down.

• At the beginning of the last century, scientists knew that specialised cells present in the kidneys make and release a hormone called erythropoietin.

  • When oxygen level is low, as in high altitudes, more of this hormone is produced and released, leading to increased production of red blood cells in the bone marrow — helping the body adapt to high altitudes.

  • Besides increasing red blood cells, the body also grows new blood vessels to increase blood supply.

What are the main contribution of 2019 winners ?

• Both Prof. Semenza and Sir Ratcliffe independently studied how the erythropoietin gene is regulated by varying oxygen levels.

• Both researchers found that the oxygen-sensing mechanism is not restricted to kidneys where the erythropoietin is produced but by diverse cells in tissues other than the kidney.

• Semenza identified a pair of genes that express two proteins.

  • When the oxygen level is low, one of the proteins (HIF-1alpha) turns on certain genes, including the erythropoietin gene, to increase the production of erythropoietin.

  • The hormone, in turn, increases the oxygen availability by boosting the production of red blood cells.

• Kaelin Jr., who was studying an inherited syndrome called von Hippel-Lindau’s disease (VHL disease) found that people had increased risk of cancer when they inherited VHL mutations.

  • He found the VHL gene seemed to be involved in how cells respond to oxygen.

H1F-1Alpha Protein Functions :

• The function of the HIF-1alpha protein, which turns on the genes to produce more erythropoietin, is blocked and is rapidly degraded when the oxygen level is normal but remains intact when oxygen level is low.

• Sir Ratcliffe found that VHL interacts with the HIF-1alpha protein and degrades it when the oxygen level is normal.

• This ensures that excess red blood cells are not produced when the oxygen level is normal.

Why do athletes use erythropoietin? What are the risks?

• Athletes have been found to use erythropoietin, synthetic oxygen carriers and blood transfusions for blood doping. Each of the three substances or methods is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

• While the use of erythropoietin in people who are anaemic due to chronic kidney disease helps in increasing the oxygen level in the blood, the use of the hormone by normal, healthy people can lead to serious health risks.

• In the case of healthy people who have a normal red blood cell count, the use of external erythropoietin is highly likely to make the blood thick (increase viscosity) leading to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and cerebral or pulmonary embolism (clot that blocks the flow of blood).

                                                                                                                              Source :- The Hindu    

SECURITY

Indo-Japan Joint Military Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN – 2019

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• The Joint Military Exercise Dharma Guardian-2019 between India and Japan will be conducted.

Dharma Guardian :

• It aim to share experience gained during various Counter-Terrorism Operations in respective Countries.

• Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN is an annual training event which is being conducted in India since 2018.

• The scope of this exercise covers joint training on counter-terrorism operations in the jungle and urban scenario.

• The joint military exercise will enhance the level of defence co-operation between the Indian Army and the Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) which in turn will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations.

• Notably, in the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN with Japan is crucial and significant in terms of security challenges faced by both the nations in the backdrop of global terroris.

                                                                                                                                                                 Source :- PIB

Govt plans to amend Arms Act

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Challenges to internal security

Context :

• Union Home Ministry has released a Draft Arms(Amendment) Bill.

• It amend the Arms Act,1959

Draft Arms Amendment bill :

• The bill proposes an amendment to convict makers and users of illegal arms.It says that the makers of prohibited arms and those carrying such arms have to spend the remainder of their life in prison if convicted.

• The bill also says that anyone possessing more than 2 licensed gun has to deposit the third one with the authorities.

• The Centre is also planning to double the punishments stipulated in the Arms Act, enacted six decades ago

• The draft of the proposed law covers areas like illegal trafficking of arms, tracking arms and their components from manufacturers to end users, organised crime, organised crime syndicates, and celebratory firing --- with varying punishment for these offences.

• .A sports person can possess a third weapon of 0.22 calibre rifle only if the user is a dedicated sports person whose participation is recognized in national and international events in the last 2 years.           

                                                                                                                                                                Source :- Livemint

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