1. LEPTOSPIROSIS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci & Tech/Diseases)

Context: Leptospirosis has resulted in six fatalities in Odisha, causing great concern in the state, and there has also been a surge in scrub typhus cases.

Leptospirosis

• About: It is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals.
• Symptoms: High fever, headache, chills, vomiting, red eyes, abdominal pain, rashes, and diarrhea.
• Leptospirosis may occur in two phases:
• After the first phase (symptoms: fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, vomiting, or diarrhea), the patient may recover for a time but become ill again.
• If a second phase occurs, it is more severe; the person may have kidney or liver failure or meningitis.
• Affected: Kidney damage, meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord), liver failure, respiratory distress, and even death.
• Treatment: The illness lasts from a few days to 3 weeks or longer. Without treatment, recovery may take several months.

Scrub Typhus

• About: It is a potentially life-threatening infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi bacteria.
• Transmission: People contract scrub typhus through the bites of infected chiggers, which are larval mites.
• Symptoms: Fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes a rash.

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2. UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – Art & Culture)

Context: Recently, the Prime Minister expressed his joy at Santiniketan's inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Shantiniketan 

• About: It was the home of Rabindranath Tagore, where he lived and composed many of his literary works, including songs, poems, and novels.
• Location: Birbhum District, West Bengal, India
• Built by: Debendranath Tagore (father of Rabindranath Tagore)
• Shantiniketan Festivals: Briksharopan (festival of Planting Saplings) and Halakarshan (festival of Plowing the Fields)

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

• About: It is a place that is listed by UNESCO for its special cultural or physical significance. 
• Maintained by: International ‘World Heritage Programme’, administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
• Selection Criteria: Sites must be already classified landmarks, unique and significant culturally or physically, such as ancient ruins, historical structures, cities, monuments, etc.
• India’s role: India has been a member of the World Heritage Committee thrice before (1985-91, 2001-07& 2011-15) and is serving a fourth term (2021-25).
• India’s sites: 41 World Heritage Sites. 

o 33 are cultural, 7 are natural, and one, the Khangchendzonga National Park, is of mixed type.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

• Formation: 1945, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) based in Paris.
• Objective: It works to achieve peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms.
• Members: 195 member states and 10 associate members. India is a founding member of the Organization.
• Headquarter: Paris, France.

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3. CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – Geography)

Context: The European Parliament has approved the Critical Raw Materials Act to diversify its import dependence and domestic production.

Key Points

• The EU is the world’s largest trading bloc, aims to reduce its dependence on China and increase its domestic capacity.

oChina is the largest producer of many of the world's critical minerals.

• Metals and critical minerals are crucial for the green transition as they are used to manufacture solar panels, windmills, and electric car batteries.
• Dependency: The EU was 99% dependent on China for rare earth metals (REE).
• Aim of Act: To “diversify the Union’s imports of strategic raw materials with a view to ensure that, by 2030.
• Diversification: Australia and Chile with huge reserves such as cobalt, lithium, and manganese are potential strategic partners for diversifying the supply chain.

Critical Raw Materials

• About: Critical minerals are a cluster of minerals crucial for diverse industrial sectors, carrying significant economic and security implications for a nation.
• Found: Earth’s crust
• Examples: Rare earth elements, lithium, cobalt, graphite, platinum group metals, and certain minerals and metals

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4. MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: The government may raise the minimum support price (MSP) of six rabi or winter crops, with increases ranging from 2% to 7%, for the 2024-25 marketing season

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

• About: MSP serves as a government-established rate at which crops are bought from farmers, providing them with protection against significant declines in agricultural prices.
• Announced by: The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and Fair and Remunerative Prices (FRP) for sugarcane.
• Origin of Concept: MSP was initially introduced in 1966, drawing inspiration from the Green Revolution.
• Crops covered: 7 types of cereals (paddy, wheat, maize, bajra, jowar, ragi and barley)

o5 types of pulses (chana, arhar/tur, urad, moong and masoor)

o7 oilseeds (rapeseed-mustard, groundnut, soybean, sunflower, sesamum, safflower, niger seed)

o4 commercial crops (cotton, sugarcane, copra, raw jute).

Factors for Recommending the MSP

• Demand and supply, 
• Cost of production, 
• Price trends in the market, 
• Both domestic and international, inter-crop price parity, 
• Terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture, 
• A minimum of 50 percent as the margin over the cost of production,
• Implications of MSP on consumers of that product.

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5. PM VISHWAKARMA SCHEME (Syllabus: GS Paper 2– Government schmes)

Context: Recently, in observance of 'Vishwakarma Jayanti,' the Prime Minister of India launched the 'PM Vishwakarma scheme, allocating Rs 13,000 crore to support traditional artisans.

PM Vishwakarma scheme

• About: It is a pioneering scheme designed to uplift individuals skilled in traditional craftsmanship, particularly from the OBC community.
• Aim: To strengthen and nurture the Guru-Shishya parampara or family-based practice of traditional skills by artisans and craftspeople working with their hands and tools.

oImproving the quality, as well as the reach of products and services of artisans and craftspeople and ensuring that the Vishwakarmas are integrated with the domestic and global value chains.

• Features: The artisans and craftspeople will be provided recognition through PM Vishwakarma certificate and ID card, Credit Support up to Rs.1 lakh (First Tranche) and Rs.2 lakh (Second Tranche) with a concessional interest rate of 5%. 

oThe Scheme will further provide Skill Upgradation, Toolkit Incentives, Incentive for Digital Transactions and Marketing Support.

oThe scheme will provide support to artisans and craftspeople of rural and urban areas across India. 

o18 traditional trades will be covered in the first instance under PM Vishwakarma.

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6. PROJECT CHEETAH (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env & Eco)

Context: A government report reveals that recently, four out of the six criteria set for evaluating the short-term success of India's cheetah reintroduction program have been achieved.

Project Cheetah

• About: It is India’s cheetah relocation program. This is the first intercontinental reintroduction of a wild, large carnivore species.
• Began on: 17 September 2023
• Authorities - The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is the apex body entrusted with the implementation of Project Cheetah.
• Nodal Ministry:  Ministry of the forest, environment, and climate change.
• Historic cheetah in India - Asiatic Cheetahs were once abundant in India but the last cheetah in the country died in 1952.
• Reintroduced cheetah - The animals brought from Namibia and South Africa are the Southeast African cheetahs.
• IUCN Status
• African Cheetah – Vulnerable 
• Asiatic Cheetah – Critically endangered (Iran)

Kuno National Park

• Situated:  Between the Aravallis and the Madhav National Park, Kuno serves as an important wildlife corridor
• It was notified as a sanctuary in 1981 and then upgraded to a national park in 2018. 
• Area: 750 kilometers of pristine wilderness.
• Vegetation: The tropical dry deciduous forest mainly consists of Anogeissus pendula (Kardhai), Senegalia catechu (Khair) Boswellia serrata (Salai), and associated flora.

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7. INDIA-BRAZIL SUGAR DISPUTE (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: Recently, India and Brazil initiated discussions to amicably address a trade dispute concerning sugar at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and as a recent development in this resolution effort, the South American nation is considering sharing its ethanol production technology.

Key Points of Dispute

• In 2019, Brazil, Australia, and Guatemala dragged India into the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism alleging that New Delhi's sugar subsidies to farmers are inconsistent with global trade rules.
• In January 2022, India appealed against the panel's ruling at the WTO's appellate body, which is the final authority to pass rulings against such disputes.

oBrazil is the largest producer and exporter of sugar in the world. India is the world's second-largest producer.

• Brazil, Australia, and Guatemala, which are members of the WTO, had complained that India's support measures to sugarcane producers exceed the de minimis level of 10 percent of the total value of sugarcane production.
• According to WTO rules, a WTO member or member can file a case in the Geneva-based multilateral body if they feel that a particular trade measure is against the norms of the WTO.

Ethanol

• About: Ethanol serves as a fuel additive for vehicles when blended with oil.
• Derived from: Sugarcane, broken rice, and various agricultural products.
• Dependency: Its utilization can assist India, the world's third-largest oil consumer and importer, in reducing its dependency on foreign oil supplies, currently standing at 85 percent.
• Use of Ethanol: using ethanol in fuels contributes to a reduction in carbon emissions.
• India’s Target:  To achieving a 20 percent ethanol blend in petrol by the year 2025.

World Trade Organization (WTO) 

• About: It is the only global international organization dealing with international Trade between nations.
• Set up: In 1995, the GATT under the Marrakesh Agreement.
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
• Members: 164 members and India is a founding member of WTO.

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8. C295 AIRCRAFT (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci & Tech)

Context: Recently, the Indian Air Force (IAF) took delivery of the initial C295 aircraft out of the 56 slated to replace its ageing Avro-748 fleet, directly from the Airbus production site in Seville, Spain.

C295 Aircraft

• About: It is a new-generation tactical airlifter in the light and medium segment that will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
• Built by: Airbus, a European multinational aerospace corporation.
• Capacity: 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology.

oIt is robust and reliable but also highly versatile in terms of the number of different missions it can perform.

• Features: The aircraft, with a flight endurance of up to 11 hours, can carry out multi-role operations under all weather conditions.
• Replacement: Indian Air Force’s ageing fleet of Avro-748 planes 

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9. PM UJJWALA YOJANA (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Government Scheme)

Context: Recently, the center approved the expansion of PM Ujjwala Yojana over three years from Financial Year 2023-24 to 2025-26.

PM Ujjwala Yojana

• Launched: May 2016.
• Ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• Objective: To make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to the rural and deprived households that were otherwise using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes, etc.
• Target: LPG connections to 5 crore women members of BPL households.
• Beneficiaries: Women beneficiaries from 7 more categories- SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, and Islands.

Initiatives to expand LPG coverage

• PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hastantarit Labh): Instead of providing LPG cylinders at subsidized price, those were sold at market price, and applicable subsidy was directly transferred to individual’s bank account electronically.
• GIVE IT UP: Instead of removing subsidies forcefully, people were encouraged to voluntarily surrender their subsidies.

 

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10. GLUE PADS (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Env & Eco)

Context: The Delhi government announced directives to ban the manufacture, sale, and use of glue pads which is a common but one of the most cruel methods to kill rodents.

• Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, prohibited the practice after receiving guidance from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) in 2011.

Key Points of Ban Glue Pads

• Rat poison, a commonly used alternative to glue pads, is also one of the most inhuman ways of dealing with rodent infestation. 
• The ban on glue pads serves as a reminder that poisoning rats threaten predators who feed on their carcass but isn’t regulated.
• Rat poison, along with glue strips, was observed to be the worst for ‘rat welfare’ in a January 2023 Oxford University study. 
• “Anticoagulant poisons, which interfere with blood clotting and kill rats through hemorrhaging, can lead to extreme suffering.
• According to Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 91 percent of the birds tested positive for two or more different types of anticoagulant rodenticides, with SGARs brodifacoum, bromadiolone and difethialone found most frequently

Glue Pads

• About: It is a pest control device that uses a strong adhesive to trap rodents, insects, and other small animals. 
• It is typically made of a cardboard or plastic base with a layer of sticky glue applied to the top.
• How it works: When an animal steps on the glue pad, its feet and body become stuck. The animal is then unable to escape, and it eventually dies from dehydration or starvation.

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