05 Sep 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

Sept 5th, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
C. GS 3 Related
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Punjab breathes innovation, finds gainful uses for paddy stubble
INTERNAL SECURITY
1. Peace deal inked to end Karbi unrest
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Soil microbes can make for a greener revolution
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
HEALTH
1. Why are ‘breakthrough’ infections a concern?
ECONOMY
1. What are the new I-T rules on PF savings?
F. Prelims Facts
1. Hycean worlds
2. Nipah surfaces in Kozhikode after a year
3. INSPIRESat-1 primed for launch, says IIST
G. Tidbits
1. ‘28% of 1,38,000 assessed species face extinction’
2. App store challenge
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Category: INTERNAL SECURITY

1. Peace deal inked to end Karbi unrest

Context:

• A tripartite agreement among five insurgent groups of Assam, the Centre and the State government was signed recently.
  • The insurgent groups which signed the peace agreement included the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front, the People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri, the United People’s Liberation Army and the Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers factions.

Details:

• As per the peace accord, more than 1,000 armed cadres who give up violence and join the mainstream would be suitably rehabilitated.
• The Centre will provide for a special development package of Rs. 1,000 crore over the next five years, to undertake development projects for the Karbi areas.
• The agreement proposes to give more legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers to the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC).
  • The Consolidated Fund of the State of Assam will be amended to meet the resources of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council
• The Government of Assam will set up a Karbi Welfare Council to focus on the development of the Karbi people living outside the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council area.

Significance:

• The agreement while proposing for greater autonomy for the Karbi Anglong region which will help protect the identity, language and culture of the Karbi people also ensures the integrity of Assam.
• This balancing of interests of all the stakeholders will help end years of violence in the Karbi Anglong region.
• Also this peace agreement along with the earlier peace accords like the one with National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), Bru accord, Bodo Peace accord will go a long way in ending the vicious cycle of insurgency and violence in North east India and enable the peaceful development of the region.

Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Soil microbes can make for a greener revolution

Context:

• Given the increasing calls for sustainable agriculture practices, the use of microbes in improving crop quality and quantity is gaining traction. In this regard, the article discusses some important associated terminologies.

Rhizomicrobiome:

• Diverse microbial communities are symbiotically associated with plants as endophytes and epiphytes and rhizospheric communities.
  • Rhizosphere is the area around plant roots influenced by root exudates.
  • The rhizospheric (root zone) communities are called the rhizomicrobiome.

Rhizobacteria:

• Rhizobacteria are root-associated bacteria that form symbiotic relationships with many plants. Though parasitic varieties of rhizobacteria exist, the term usually refers to bacteria that form a relationship beneficial for both parties.
• Beneficial rhizobacteria have been utilized to improve water and nutrient uptake and function as growth promoters and also helps improve abiotic and biotic stress tolerance of plants.
  • Some rhizobacteria are able to enhance the recycling of plant nutrients and decrease the use of chemical fertilization.
  • Some rhizobacteria help plants ward off pathogens that cause diseases of the root. They may even trigger systemic resistance to a pathogen throughout the plant.

Mycorrhiza:

• A mycorrhiza is a mutual symbiotic association (mutualism) between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant’s rhizosphere, its root system. Mycorrhizae play important roles in plant nutrition, soil biology, and soil chemistry.
• The root-invading fungus gains nutrients made by the plant, and the plants get difficult-to-find minerals like phosphorus from the microbe.

Additional information:

Hybrid vigour:

• A vast majority of commercially grown crops are hybrids, where two inbred lines are crossed, with their first-generation hybrid offspring exhibiting a vigour that is lacking in either of its parents. This property of hybrid vigour is called heterosis.

Category: ECONOMY

1. What are the new I-T rules on PF savings?

Context:

• The Finance Ministry has notified new Income Tax rules to impose a fresh tax on Provident Fund (PF) savings.
• This is in line with the 2021-22 Budget speech announcement wherein the Finance Minister had proposed taxing the income on PF contributions.

Background:

Employee provident fund:

• Employee provident fund (EPF) accounts are mandatory for employees earning up to Rs. 15,000 a month in firms employing over 20 workers, with 12% of the basic pay and dearness allowance deducted as employees’ contribution and another 12% remitted by the employer.
• Government as well as private sector employees are allowed to make voluntary contributions over and above the statutory deductions into the General Provident Fund or the Employee provident fund respectively.

Impact of the proposal:

• EPF accounts managed by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the General Provident Fund (GPF) will be impacted.
• Also the large companies that manage the retirement savings of their workforce in-house through ‘exempt’ EPF trusts, will also be impacted.
• Public Provident Fund (PPF) accounts or the retirement savings accumulated under the National Pension Scheme will not be affected by the new tax.

Government’s rationale:

• Notably till year’s Budget, all income on provident fund savings was exempt from tax. This provision was aimed at helping people retire with an adequate financial resource base.
• However this was being misused by high net worth individuals to evade taxation by availing tax concessions and was not the intended purpose of the PF savings scheme. This necessitated the proposal for taxing provident fund savings beyond a certain threshold.

2. Nipah surfaces in Kozhikode after a year

• Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus (it is transmitted from animals to humans- such as bats or pigs) and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people.
  • Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural host of Nipah virus.
• Although Nipah virus has caused only a few known outbreaks in Asia, it infects a wide range of animals and causes severe disease and death in people, making it a public health concern.
  • In infected people, it causes a range of illnesses from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis. The case fatality rate is estimated at 40% to 75%.
• There is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals. The primary treatment for humans is supportive care.

Context:

• Nipah has surfaced in Kerala for the third time after a gap of one year.

3. INSPIRESat-1 primed for launch, says IIST

• INSPIRESat-1 CubeSat, developed under the International Satellite Program in Research and Education (INSPIRE), is ready for launch.
  • A constellation of earth and space-weather observation satellites is envisaged under the INSPIRE programme.
• The small satellite will be launched aboard an upcoming Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
• It is a collaborative effort by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder in the US, National Central University, Taiwan, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST).
• The satellite, which will be placed in a low earth orbit, is equipped with a Compact Ionosphere Probe for studying the earth’s ionosphere.

2. App store challenge

South Korean law on app-store operators:

• Recently, the South Korean Parliament passed an amendment to the country’s Telecommunications Business Act, aimed at regulating dominant app store operators like Alphabet’s Google and Apple. Some of the important provisions involve:
  • Prohibiting the app store operators from forcing app developers to use their in-store payment systems. The aim of this legislation seems to be to prevent Apple and Google from charging commissions on payments made in their app stores.
    • Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store strictly regulate how apps in their environment charge money from their users. They also charge a 30% commission on all purchases made through the app store.
  • The law empowers the government to intervene in payment disputes within app stores.
  • The new law also empowers the government to hold the app store operators accountable for delaying the publishing of apps or deleting them.

Significance:

• Dubbed the “anti-Google” law, the South Korean law is the first legal restriction on Google and Apple’s control over their app stores. This could become a template for the many countries that have been looking at ways to control the clout of these companies that charge a commission from the digital sales of almost everyone from the gaming industry to the online publishers.
• The new law will help regulate the monopoly of the two app stores and help level the playing field for smaller companies.

Q1. With reference to Bye-elections, which of the following statements is/are correct?

Q2. Which one among the following statements best describes the Hycean planet?

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

Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to Komodo dragon: 

Q5. The national motto of India, ‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below the Emblem of India is 
taken from

Read the previous CNA here.

Sept 5th, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here