16 Sep 2023: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
GOVERNANCE
1. Jal Jeevan Mission remains a pipe dream
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. In diverse India, name change demands consensus
ENVIRONMENT AND AGRICULTURE
1. A GM crop decision that cuts the mustard
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Nipah puts Kerala under siege again
F. Prelims Facts
1. Exempting millets from GST can lift affordability, boost consumption
2. GDP Deflator
3. 31 benches of GST tribunal notified
G. Tidbits
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Nothing here for today!!!

Category: ENVIRONMENT AND AGRICULTURE

1. A GM crop decision that cuts the mustard

Syllabus: E-Technology in the Aid of Farmers, Technology Missions

Mains: Concerns and challenges associated with GM crops.

Context: The environmental release of GM mustard DMH-11 marks a new era in self-reliance and sustainability in agriculture in India.

Background:

• The adoption of science-based technologies for crop improvement such as genetic engineering for developing genetically modified (GM) crops as a supplement to conventional breeding methods has become an absolute necessity to address the burgeoning and complex challenge of achieving global food and nutritional security under the fast-changing climate. 
• According to the Global Food Security and Nutrition Report, 2019, it is difficult to achieve the ‘Zero Hunger’ target by 2030.

Need for GM crops

• Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.
• Increased stress on agricultural lands.
• Population pressure.
• Climate change.
• Global economic gains – (1996-2018) – $ 224.9 bn – 16 million farmers – 95% from developing countries.
• Has benefitted 26% of the global population.

India specific needs

• India faces a major deficit in edible oils. 
• Imports – 13 million tonnes – Rs 1.17 lakh crore.
• Per hectare yield is low.
• Saves soil moisture and nutrients.
• Effective weed control.
• Will boost vibrant genetic engineering research.
• Enhance farm income.

What is DMH-11?

• The signature feature of DMH is that it carries a gene for herbicide resistance. i.e. herbicide tolerant. 
• It has been developed by scientists from the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), Delhi University. 
• They developed the hybrid containing two alien genes isolated from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.
• The barnase-barstar GM technology was deployed to develop DMH-11. The researchers found a popular Indian mustard variety ‘Varuna’ (the barnase line) with an East European ‘Early Heera-2’ mutant (barstar).
• It contains 3 important genes Bargene, Barnase and Barstar, all derived from soil bacterium. 
• It would be a high-yielding variety of the mustard crop. 

Concerns

• The availability of GM crops is a major concern.
• Local varieties of seeds will get ignored leading to a loss of biodiversity.
• Herbicide-resistant weeds will increase.
• The capability of the GMO to escape and potentially introduce the engineered genes into wild populations.
• The persistence of the gene after the GMO has been harvested.
• The susceptibility of non-target organisms (e.g. insects which are not pests) to the gene product.
• The stability of the gene and increased use of chemicals in agriculture.

Nut Graf: Cultivation of these GM mustard hybrids developed indigenously could help enhance farmers’ income, reduce the oil-import burden and help achieve much-needed self-reliance in edible oil production. The environmental release of DMH-11 marks the beginning of a new era of self-reliance and sustainability in agriculture. More improved GM food crops are needed to boost the profitability of Indian farmers.

Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Nipah puts Kerala under siege again

Syllabus: Recent developments and their applications and effects in everyday life. General awareness in the field of biotechnology.

Mains: Nipah virus outbreak and its transmission dynamics.

Context: 

Authorities are scrambling to stop the spread of Nipah, and questions are being asked about the frequent recurrence of the virus in the State.

What is Nipah?

• Nipah virus infection causes a range of clinical presentations, from asymptomatic infection (subclinical) to acute respiratory infection and fatal encephalitis.
• The case fatality rate is estimated at 40% to 75%. 
• Can be transmitted to humans from animals (such as bats or pigs), or contaminated foods and can also be transmitted directly from human to human.
• Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural hosts of the Nipah virus.

The Disease

• The first infection was reported in Malaysia in 1998.
• In India, transmission is through respiratory droplets.
• Symptoms – fever, muscle pain, vomiting, headaches, sore throat, dizziness.

Concerns

• Lack of tracing.
• Need to understand changing vegetation patterns – Growing rubber plantation areas.
• Lack of information among the ground-level workers.
• No learning from the last outbreak.
• Need for a permanent protocol to deal with such diseases.
• Lack of enough testing labs with biosafety level – IV standards.
• Lack of understanding and preparation.
• The state lacks clarity on how and when the virus spillover occurs and the possible transmission routes.
• Uncertainty surrounds how the index case contracted the virus during each outbreak.
• One hypothesis is that humans could contract the virus by consuming fruits contaminated by bat saliva.

Preventive Measures

• The government has imposed restrictions on large gatherings and events in Kozhikode until September end to prevent further spread.
• Health authorities are actively monitoring and preparing for the distribution of monoclonal antibodies for potential treatment, expected to be available shortly.

Nut Graf: Kerala grapples with its fourth Nipah outbreak while neglecting vital disease epidemiology. Experts call for bat surveillance, ecological studies, and spillover transmission research as recurring outbreaks defy predictions.

2. GDP Deflator

• The government called out critics for ignoring high-frequency data like Purchasing Managers’ Indices and said that IIP index numbers understate manufacturing growth.

Source: The Hindu

• The Finance Ministry challenged aspersions cast by “certain sections” on the credibility of India’s GDP data, which showed a 7.8% uptick in the first quarter, stressing that the GDP data was not seasonally adjusted and was finalised three years later, and it was therefore “wrong to look at the underlying economic activity based on GDP indicators alone”.
• The minister said higher frequency data must be relied upon to form a view of the strength of the economic activity. And India’s growth numbers might understate the reality because manufacturing growth indicated by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is far lower than what manufacturing companies are reporting.

‘New bogey’

• The ministry also called out references to nominal GDP growth being lower than real GDP growth as “a new bogey being spread to discredit the GDP numbers and indicate that underlying economic activity is quite weak” and said both arguments did not stand up to scrutiny.
• The ministry said India’s GDP deflator is dominated by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) which peaked in the first quarter of 2022-23 due to the oil and food price increases in the wake of the war in Ukraine and supply-side disruptions. Prices began to come down from August 2022 onwards. Hence, WPI is now contracting year-on-year. It will soon pass once the statistical base effect disappears.
• If inflation were higher, critics would argue that nominal GDP growth is much higher because of inflation and that there was little underlying activity. 
• MoSPI calculates quarterly GVA in real terms first, and then, using the deflator, nominal values are obtained. 
• The Finance Ministry contended India’s real GDP growth was 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023-24. This is as per the Income or Production Approach. As per the expenditure approach, it would have been lower. So, a balancing figure statistical discrepancy is added to the expenditure approach estimate. These discrepancies are both positive and negative. Over time, they wash out.

3. 31 benches of GST tribunal notified

• The Finance Ministry notified the constitution of 31 Appellate Tribunals across 28 States and eight Union Territories for the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• The purpose is to resolve a growing number of taxpayer disputes with the Revenue Department.
• The establishment of these tribunals envisaged at the time of the implementation of the GST regime from July 1, 2017, got a final clearance from the GST Council in July 2023, and was much awaited by industry players.
• As of June 30, the number of pending appeals from taxpayers over Central GST levies had increased sharply to over 14,000.
• Uttar Pradesh will have the highest number of Benches of the GST tribunals, with three Benches proposed to be set up across Lucknow, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Agra, and Prayagraj. Karnataka and Rajasthan will have two Benches each, while Maharashtra and Goa together will have three Benches to take up appeals.
• Tamil Nadu, along with Puducherry, will have two Benches, as will Gujarat along with the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu. 
• Disputes arising in West Bengal, Sikkim, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will be taken up by two Benches of the tribunal to come up in Kolkata. 
• For the seven northeastern States, one tribunal Bench has been proposed in Guwahati, with circuit Benches in Aizawl, Agartala and Kohima that will be operationalised depending upon the number of appeals filed in respective States.

Q1. Consider the following statements about the GDP Price Deflator:

Q2. Consider the following statements, with reference to the establishment of the GST
Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT):

Q3. Consider the following statements, with reference to millets:

Q4. With reference to genetic modification (GM) of crops, consider the following 
statements:

Q5. Consider the following statements about the Jal Jeevan Mission: