14 Mar 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 14 March 2021:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Modi, Gotabaya speak ahead of Geneva vote
HEALTH
1. Pollution linked to virus spread: Vardhan
C. GS 3 Related
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Gregarious bamboo flowering in Wayanad poses threat
2. Framework for testing water launched
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Optical monitoring of power line health
2. Martian ‘blueberries’ find a parallel on Earth
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Relooking the Mandal verdict and quota cap
ECONOMY
1. Retrospective laws and the Cairn tax dispute
F. Prelims Facts
1. Ayushman Bharat campaign picks up pace
2. Size of egg cells
G. Tidbits
1. ‘Focus on growth than inflation’
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Category: HEALTH

1. Pollution linked to virus spread: Vardhan

Context:

• Union Health Minister’s statement on the health risks associated with pollution.

Details:

Ambient air pollution:

• Ambient air pollution is a known risk factor for adverse health outcomes, like chronic cardio-respiratory morbidities. The presence of these morbidities renders the affected population more vulnerable to COVID-19.
• There is emerging evidence to suggest that exposure to ambient air pollutants, especially PM2.5 and NO2, contribute to the spread and virulence of SARS-CoV-2 infections.
  • Closed indoor spaces provide ideal environments for viral transmission due to the lack of ventilation preventing the dilution of viral particles, and the absence of ultraviolet rays which can potentially inactivate the virus.
• According to the World Health Organization’s report of 2018 over 91% of the global population reside in areas where ambient air pollution levels exceed the normal limits prescribed by the WHO, resulting in around 4.2 million annual deaths.

Water pollution:

• The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health estimates that 1.8 million deaths worldwide are related to “water” (mainly microbiological contamination) and 0.5 million deaths occur due to chemical pollution of water and soil by heavy metals and other man-made chemicals.

Plastic pollution:

• Plastic debris is a major source of water pollution. Given its ubiquitous prevalence, persistence, accumulation in aquatic food chains, and adverse effects on aquatic organisms and potentially to human health it has become an important environmental problem.

Conclusion:

• Research targeted at estimating the burden of pollution and consequent health effects, is essential to design and implement suitable intervention strategies that will enable the achievement of the sustainable development goals associated with health.

2. Framework for testing water launched

Context:

• The drinking water quality testing, monitoring and surveillance framework and guidelines.

Details:

• The guidelines are part of the water quality monitoring framework rolled out by the Jal Jeevan Mission.
  • Of the ₹3.6 lakh crore Jal Jeevan budget, 2% has been earmarked for quality monitoring.
• The guidelines mandate a network of NABL accredited labs to be set up in every State, district and block over the next year. At the panchayat level, teams of women in the village water and sanitation committees will be given field testing kits.
• Detailed testing protocols and standards have been laid out to check for chemical and biological contaminants.
• The various parameters that could be tested include the water sample’s pH level, turbidity, alkalinity, hardness, presence of chloride, sulphate, iron, arsenic, fluoride, nitrate and coliform bacteria.
• All results of testing will be fed into the Water Quality Information Management System.

Significance:

• The guidelines caps tariffs to ensure that they remain within reach of common man. Hence, citizens can now get the water quality in their taps tested at reasonable rates.
• The samples tested by members of the public, as well as government officials, will create a nationwide database of water quality.
  • According to a 2018 assessment by the Central Groundwater Board, Chemical and biological contaminants are present in more than half of all blocks in India.
• A local official will be deputed to take remedial action in case of contamination.

Challenges:

• Lack of adequate accredited testing laboratories.

Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Optical monitoring of power line health

Context:

• Researchers at IIT Madras have demonstrated that by using Raman thermometry on fibre optic cables, they can achieve monitoring of power transmission cables.

Raman thermometry:

• In the Raman effect, when light is scattered off an object, say a molecule, two bands are observed, with higher and lower frequency than the original light, called the Stokes and anti-Stokes bands, respectively.
• By studying the relative intensity of the two bands, it is possible to estimate the temperature of the object which scatters the light. This principle is used in Raman Thermometry.
• Any current flowing through a conductor would cause a temperature rise due to the Joule heating effect. Hence the flow of current through the power cables results in heating of the power cables.

Significance:

• The use of Raman thermometry technique allows the operators to get the results for actual temperature measurements over tens of kilometres.
• Alternative methods of measuring the temperature of power cables include using a thermal camera to manually monitor their length, which is cumbersome. The present method devised by the team is both economical and provides real-time information.

2. Martian ‘blueberries’ find a parallel on Earth

Context:

• NASA successfully landed its Perseverance rover on mars.

Background:

• In 2004, NASA’s Mars exploration rover ‘Opportunity’ found several small spheres on Mars, informally named Martian blueberries. The study of the mineralogy noted that they were made of iron oxide compounds called haematites.
  • Similar haematite concretions have been found in Kutch, Gujarat. These have been called the Jhuran formation.

Inference:

• Haematite concretion is normally formed through precipitation from aqueous fluids. The presence of haematites suggests that there was water present on Mars. Water is believed to have disappeared from Mars rocks about three billion years ago.
• Haematite is known to form in oxidising environments. The Martian blueberries also indicate that the planet had an atmosphere with oxygen as haematites need oxygen to stabilise. Available evidence suggests that there was indeed more oxygen than the present day levels.

Conclusion:

• Studies from the newly landed Perseverance rover may help find new clues and signs of life and other organic compounds, thus helping us paint a detailed picture of the history of Mars.

Category: ECONOMY

1. Retrospective laws and the Cairn tax dispute

Context:

• In the ruling by a three-member tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration against India in the tax dispute with the U.K.-based oil and gas company Cairn Energy Plc and a subsidiary, Cairn UK Holdings Ltd, the tribunal ordered India to pay about $1.4 billion to the company.
• Cairn Energy has successfully moved courts in five countries, including the United States, Netherlands, France Canada and the United Kingdom, to recognise its claim as per the arbitration award.

This issue has been covered previously in the following articles:

UPSC CNA 27th Jan 2021

2. Size of egg cells

• Egg cells are the largest cells in the body.
• A new study deciphers how these cells grow to such sizes. ‘Nurse’ cells, connected to the oocyte, dump their contents into the oocyte (egg cell), thereby causing it to expand

Q1. Which of the following statement/s is/are correct with respect to Mudumalai National Park?

Q2. Which of the following statement/s is/are correct with respect to the United Nations 
Human Rights Council (UNHRC)?

Q3. Which of the following statement/s is/are correctly matched?

Q4. Which of the following is the largest cell in the human body?

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 14 March 2021:- Download PDF Here