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Donor gametes are allowed: New rule on surrogacy

Context: The Union government has modified Rule 7 the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022 and notified that both gametes need not come from a married couple in case they are certified as suffering from a medical condition.

About Surrogacy:

Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the intending couple.
Surrogacy can be classified into:
- Altruistic surrogacy entails no financial compensation for the surrogate.
- Commercial surrogacy involves paying the surrogate for bearing the child, implying a profit.
- Compensated surrogacy simply involves covering the incurred expenses and loss of wages.
In Devika Biswas v. Union of India, the Supreme Court held that Right to Reproduction was an essential facet of the ‘Right to Life’ under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

About Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021:

The Act prohibits commercial surrogacy, but allows altruistic surrogacy.
The Act permits surrogacy when, an intending couples who suffer from proven infertility and an Indian woman who is a widow or divorcee between the age of 35 to 45 years and who intends to avail the surrogacy.
Surrogacy clinics are prohibited from conducting surrogacy or any associated procedures unless they receive registration approval from the relevant authority.
The National Surrogacy Board (NSB) and State Surrogacy Boards (SSBs) shall be established by both the central and state governments, respectively.
For a surrogate mother to be eligible for a certificate from the appropriate authority, she must have a familial relationship with the intending couple; not have served as a surrogate mother previously; possess a certificate confirming her medical and psychological health, be an ever-married woman having a child of her own, and be 25 to 35 years old.
The surrogate mother is not allowed to use her own eggs for the surrogacy process.
An order of parentage and custody of the surrogate child passed by a Magistrate's court.
Insurance coverage for a period of 36 months Covering postpartum delivery complications for surrogate.

The rationale for this rule:

Prior to the March 2023 rules, which insisted on the use of both eggs and sperm from the intending couple, the 2023 surrogacy rules allowed the use of donor eggs, but not sperm.
The 2023 rules was challenged in the Supreme Court by a woman with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) Syndrome, a rare congenital disorder that affects the reproductive system and can cause infertility.
The modifications in the Surrogacy Rules came after the Supreme Court doubted the correctness of the existing rules.
Also the quality and number of eggs go down with age. While the decline accelerates after the age of 35 years, doctors recommend definitely using a donor egg after the age of 45 years.

About Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022:

As per the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, the couple can have a child born through surrogacy but must have at least one gamete from the intending couple, thus restricted married couples from getting donor gametes.
In case when the District Medical Board certifies that either husband or wife constituting the intending couple suffers from medical condition necessitating use of donor gamete, then surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed.
While the relaxation is for intending couple only. If a divorced or widowed woman opts for surrogacy, the egg has to come from the mother and Single woman (widow or divorcee), undergoing surrogacy must use self-eggs and donor sperms to avail surrogacy procedure.

Challenges of this act:

Exclusionary: The provisions deny this opportunity to LGBTQ+ persons, live-in couples, unmarried women and single parents.
Altruistic surrogacy is paternalistic – It expects a woman to go through the physical and emotional tolls of surrogacy free of cost and only out of ‘compassion’. Thus reinforcing age old patriarchal norm of no economic value to the women’s work.
It doesn’t respect the bodily autonomy of women – By shifting from right based to need based approach it snatches away the right of a women to decide upon her reproductive choices. Further it is and violative of her fundamental rights under Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.
Impetus to black marketing- Blanket ban on commercial surrogacy may lead to creation of unregulated, exploitative underground/black markets.
Does not defines close relative – The act didn’t define ‘close relative’, which is a condition to be fulfilled by the surrogate mother. Thus scope for confusion and exploitation of loop holes is always there.
Reproductive liberty to the couples – Several restriction in form of eligibility criteria etc restricts the surrogacy option to intending couple which is a denial of reproductive liberty to them.
No power to make decision on abortion – Intending couple don’t have final say in the consent to abort a surrogate child, even if the child being born out of a surrogacy arrangement is at the risk of physical or mental abnormalities.
Identity and emotional aspect – Several times couples do not want to reveal their plans of oping for surrogacy,now putting the condition of close relative to be a surrogate clearly ignores this aspect and restricts the choices. Further, familial bonds and interaction may involve high emotional complications between surrogate mother and intended parents.
Definition of infertility: Infertility is restricted to failure to conceive, does not cover other issues that a women may face in delivering a child.

Way forward:

The government should remove the time limit for IVF treatment before permitting surrogacy, taking into consideration medical circumstances and concerns that deter some women from childbirth.
The government is should address postpartum depression by implementing provisions for its management, and maternal benefits should be accessible to all mothers.
Government should provide clear definition of close relative and infertility.
With appropriate safeguards, expanding the surrogacy sector to include commercial surrogacy will benefit individuals who long for the experience of parenthood.
Government should include live-in couples, unmarried women, and single parents in this act, as Right to Reproduction is the fundamental rights .

Aditya-L1's PAPA detects impact of CMEs on solar wind

Context: Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) payload onboard Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Aditya-L1 has detected the impact of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on solar wind.

Aditya-L1 is India's first solar mission aimed at studying the sun from a distance of about 1.5 million km from the Earth. It has seven payloads, including Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya.
CMEs can disrupt the solar wind and cause disturbances in Earth's magnetic field, leading to geomagnetic storms that can damage systems on Earth's surface and near-Earth.

Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA):

PAPA is an energy and mass analyser designed for in-situ measurements of solar wind electrons and ions in the low energy range.
- Solar wind is a stream of charged particles (protons, electrons, and alpha particles) flowing outward from the Sun at high speeds.
It has two sensors which can measure the mass, energy distribution, and even the direction of arrival of solar wind particles.
- Solar Wind Electron Energy Probe (SWEEP, measuring electrons in the energy range of 10 eV to 3 keV)
- Solar Wind Ion Composition Analyser (SWICAR, measuring ions in the energy range of 10 eV to 25 keV and mass range of 1-60 amu).

Coronal Mass Ejections (CME):

CMEs are large bursts/expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields that can erupt from the Sun’s corona and cause significant disturbances in the solar wind.
Compared to solar flares (bursts of electromagnetic radiation that travel at the speed of light), CMEs travel at a more leisurely pace with their highest speeds reaching 3,000 kilometres per second. These relatively slower travel times may give more time to prepare for such an arrival.
Impacts of CMEs on Earth:
- CMEs can produce a geomagnetic storm which in turn can disrupt power grids, telecommunication networks and orbiting satellites, disrupt radio communication and expose astronauts to dangerous doses of radiation.
- Charged particles from CMEs can interact with Earth's atmosphere near the poles, and produce colourful displays of light known as auroras or the northern and southern lights.

Key Terms:

Solar Flares: Solar flares are intense bursts of energy and light that originate from the Sun's surface. They are caused by the release of magnetic energy stored in the Sun's atmosphere.
Solar Wind/Storm: Solar wind is created by the outward expansion of plasma (a collection of charged particles) from the Sun's corona (outermost atmosphere). This plasma is continually heated to the point that the Sun's gravity cannot hold it down. It then travels along the Sun's magnetic field lines that extend radially outward.
Geomagnetic storms: A geomagnetic storm is a disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field caused when a solar wind shock wave or cloud of the magnetic field interacts with the Earth's magnetic field.

Comparison between Solar winds, Solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections:

Russia Captures AVDIIVKA

Context: Russia has registered a big victory, capturing the town of Avdiivka.

AVDIIVKA

It is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.
The city is located in the centre of the oblast, just north of the regional centre, Donetsk.
The battle of Avdiivka was a major battle between the Russian Armed Forces and Russian-controlled Donbas militias on one side and the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the other.
It is described as a "gateway" to the nearby provincial capital of Donetsk.

Potassium Derived from Molasses

Context: The Indian government has approved the retail price of potassium derived from molasses (PDM) at ₹4,263 per tonne or ₹213.5 per 50 kg bag.

Potassium Derived from Molasses (PDM):

PDM is a potassium-rich fertiliser derived from ash in molasses-based distilleries.
India currently imports 100% of the potash it needs for fertilisers, in the form of muriate of potash (MOP). The by-product of the sugar-based ethanol industry (PDM) can offer an alternative to the existing potash fertilisers.
Presently, about 5 Lakh tonnes of Potash Ash generated from ethanol distilleries is being sold domestically whereas the potential to produce this Ash could reach up to 10 to 12 Lakh tonnes.

The Process:

During molasses fermentation for ethanol production, a large volume of wastewater called "spent wash" is generated. This wastewater is rich in organic matter, inorganic salts, and other dissolved solids, making it highly polluting if released untreated.
To comply with Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) regulations and minimise environmental impact, some molasses-based distilleries opt for incineration. The Incineration boilers (IBs) burn the spent wash at high temperatures, converting the organic matter into heat, flue gases, and ash as a byproduct.
The potash-rich ash has 14.5% potash content and can be used by farmers in the field as an alternative to Muriate of Potash (MOP, also known as potassium chloride, contains 60% potash content).

Significance:

Production of PDM will reduce import dependency and will make India Atma Nirbhar in its production.
Manufacturing and sale of PDM can add another revenue stream for sugar mills to add to their cash flows and also to make payment to farmers in a timely manner.

Equal Opportunity Policy for Transgender Persons Notified by Central Government

Objective of the Policy:

The primary objective of the policy is to create an atmosphere that ensures the fair treatment of transgender individuals, free from discrimination, harassment and bias, while establishing a robust grievance redressal mechanism.

Scope of the Policy

Applies to all employees of the central and state/UT government and their offices. The policy will act as a guiding document for business partners.

Provisions of the Policy

Strictly prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or expression.
Transgender employees to be addressed by the name and the gender of their choice in all workplace communication.
Transgender individuals will be considered for employment based on their qualification and skills without prejudice.
Strict prohibition on harassment or bullying based on gender identity. There should be prompt reporting and investigation of any such incident.
Information related to gender identity shall be confidential and no disclosing of such information without the explicit consent of the concerned individual.
Infrastructure facilities such as unisex toilets and amenities like hygiene products to be provided for transgender persons.
Conducting regular training to raise awareness about transgender issues like education on Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and Transgender Persons(Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020.
Appointment of Complaint Officer by the Head of Office for receiving complaints for investigation in all central and state government ministries and departments.
Employees should be encouraged to report the incident to the Complaint Officer.
Necessary action such as termination of job against any employee indulging in harassment or discrimination in contravention to the equal opportunity policy.
Head of the Department will be overall responsible to oversee and promote the effective operation of this policy.

To read about the issues of Transgender Community: Link

Lesser Penalty Plus Regime notified by Competition Commission of India

Context: Competition Commission of India (CCI) has implemented regulations for the ‘Lesser penalty plus’ mechanism to prevent cartelisation. The Lesser Penalty Plus mechanism is also popularly known as the ‘leniency-plus regime’.

About Leniency Plus Regulation

Leniency Plus regime allows companies involved in cartelisation to report other cartels and receive reduced penalties.
The CCI can reduce penalties by up to 30% for involvement in the first cartel and up to 100% for newly-disclosed cartels.
The amount of penalty reduction will be based on the evidence provided by the applicant.

What is a Leniency & Leniency Plus Regime?

The current Competition Act 2002 already has a leniency programme, which allows companies that provide sufficient information about a cartel in which they have participated to receive partial immunity from penalty.
Under the existing leniency (lesser penalty rule) framework, CCI may impose a lesser penalty on a person involved in a cartel if such person has made a full and true disclosure in respect of alleged violations and such disclosure is vital.
Under ‘Leniency Plus’, a cartelist who is cooperating with CCI for leniency, can disclose the existence of another cartel in an unrelated market in the course of original leniency proceedings in exchange for an additional reduction in penalty.
Leniency Plus is a proactive antitrust enforcement strategy aimed at attracting leniency applications by encouraging companies already under investigation for one cartel to report other cartels unknown to the competition regulator.
Benefits: This leniency plus regime is expected to further incentivize applicants to come forward with disclosures regarding multiple cartels, thereby enabling the CCI to save time and resources on cartel investigation.

What is a Cartel?

In India, cartelisation is a civil offence prohibited under the Competition Act, 2002.
Section 2(c) of the Competition Act, 2002 defines a cartel as including an association of producers, sellers, distributors, traders or service providers who, by an agreement amongst themselves, limit control or attempt to control the production, distribution, sale or price of, or trade in, goods or provision of services.

What Kind of Activities are Prohibited?

Section 3(3) of the Competition Act, 2002 is the specific substantive provision which prohibits anti-competitive agreements in India, including horizontal agreements (and cartels), between enterprises that:

Directly or indirectly determine purchase or sales prices;
Limit or control production, supply, markets, technical development, investment or the provision of services;
Allocate geographic markets or customers; or
Directly or indirectly result in bid rigging or collusive bidding. Such agreements are presumed to have an AAEC and are consequently void.

Why the Need to Prevent Cartelization?

Cartels inflict severe damage on the economy and consumers.

Firstly, they lead to inflated prices, causing consumers to pay more for goods and services.
Second, cartels restrict innovation and hinder technological advancement because they have little incentive to invest in research and development when they control the market.
Third, they deter new entrants from entering markets, stifling competition and limiting consumer choice.

This harm to competition is why competition authorities are dedicated to dismantling cartels and preventing their formation.

GULMARG AVALANCHE

Context: The group was skiing in the higher reaches known as Army Ridge in the tourist town in Baramulla; one injured skier hospitalized; the avalanche was triggered by heavy snowfall in the region; Khelo Games participants safe.

GULMARG

Gulmarg literally means “Meadow of flowers”. It is located in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.
One of the main attractions in Gulmarg is the Gulmarg Gondola, the Highest Cable Car in the world.
Tourists can enjoy horse Riding and can go riding to the magnificent “Strawberry Valley”, Leopards Valley and ride up to “Kongdori” to see the frozen lake of “Al- Pathar”.
Gulmarg in winter is a magnificent experience, fully covered in a white blanket of Snow which turns it into a skier paradise.

Avalanche

Avalanche, a mass of material moving rapidly down a slope.
An avalanche is typically triggered when material on a slope breaks loose from its surroundings; this material then quickly collects and carries additional material down the slope.
There are various kinds of avalanches, including rock avalanches (which consist of large segments of shattered rock), ice avalanches (which typically occur in the vicinity of a glacier), and debris avalanches (which contain a variety of unconsolidated materials, such as loose stones and soil).
Snow avalanches constitute a relatively common phenomenon in many mountainous areas.

Conditions

The occurrence of an avalanche depends on the interaction of mountainous terrain, weather conditions, snowpack conditions, and a trigger.
Slab avalanches typically occur on slopes of 30 to 50 degrees.
The probability of avalanches may be increased or decreased by several other terrain features, such as slope shape, a slope’s exposure to sun and wind, and elevation.

Prediction and Forecasting

Forecasting combines the historical knowledge of past conditions with their knowledge of the affected terrain, current weather, and current snowpack conditions to predict when and where avalanches are most likely to occur.

India

An avalanche monitoring radar, the first of its kind in India, has been installed in North Sikkim by the Army and Defense Geoinformatics and Research Establishment (DGRE).
It has the capability to detect avalanches within three seconds of its trigger and will assist in saving lives of troops and reducing damage to property in super high-altitude areas.

Famous Places of Skiing

Skiing in India is an activity that mostly takes place in the northern states of India, where the Himalayas are situated.
Skiing is administered by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in India.
The Himalayas provide excellent skiing experience owing to their great height which makes for long descents. Heliskiing is also gaining popularity in places like Manali and Gulmarg.
However, skiing in India suffers from lack of infrastructure.
There are also security concerns in Gulmarg which is 20 km (12 mi) from the Line of Control, however since 2002, it has been peaceful, which has led to an increase in skiing activity in the region.
Some of the most popular skiing locations in India are Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir, Solang in Himachal Pradesh, and Auli in Uttarakhand.
The skiing season in India is from January to March.

RBI Report on Panchayat Finances

Context: Recently, RBI released a report titled ‘Finances of Panchayati Raj Institutions’ which is based on the data of 2.58 lakh Panchayats for the years 2020-21 to 2022-23, covering about 75% of rural local bodies.

The report presents an assessment of panchayat finances and their role in India’s socio-economic development.

Fiscal source of Panchayats:

Types of Grants received by Panchayats

Fiscal issues and challenges in Panchayat finances:

Limited own source of revenue: Panchayat’s own sources of revenues are limited, mainly property taxes, fees and fines. This restricts the financial autonomy of Panchayati Raj institutions and restricts their spending ability.
Heavy dependence on grants-in-aid: Grants from higher level of governments such as Finance Commission and State Finance accounts for a total of 95% of the revenue receipts of the panchayats. Note: Grants from the Central Finance Commission has consistently increased for panchayats since the 73^rd Constitution Amendment Act.

Issues with State Finance Commission:
- This over-dependence on vertical transfers is not predictable as states continuously delay the constitution of State Finance Commission. Ministry of Panchayati Raj has highlighted that only 9 states have constituted their SFC by 2022 whereas the scheduled timing in 2019-20.
- State governments have even not adhered to its recommendation regarding devolution of financial aspect to panchayats.
Performance gap in both tax and non-tax revenues: tax portion of revenue just 1.1% of total revenue whereas non-tax is 3.3%.
Lack of fiscal prudence: the ratio of revenue to capital expenditure averaged 3.2 in 2022-23 and the ratio varied between 0.1 in Bihar and 11.5 in Tripura. Investment in capital projects was 29.6% of the total expenditure of Panchayats in 2022-23.
Distribution disparity: There are notable differences in the distribution of grants-in-aid to PRIs across states and years.

Various other challenges like inhibition of Panchayat leaders in imposing and collecting taxes, lack of devolution of taxation powers by state government, etc. also exist.

Composition of capital expenditure by panchayats:

Way Forward:

Intensification of efforts by panchayats to augment their own tax and non-tax revenue. Ex: Velpur Gram Panchayat in the Nizamabad district in Telangana effectively generated revenue from internal sources.
Timely establishment of SFCs and prudent adherence to its recommendations.
Operational changes in PRIs like transparent budgeting, fiscal discipline, e-governance, robust monitoring and evaluation process, reporting of finances in standardized formats (e-gram swaraj portal), etc.
Empowerment of local leaders and officials, active involvement of the local community to prioritise development needs, etc.

Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC)

Context: Union Minister for Finance chaired the 28th Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). FSDC deliberated on issues like curbing unauthorised lending apps' operations, strengthening inter-regulatory coordination, simplifying, and digitalising KYC process and adopt uniform KYC norms.

What is Financial Stability and Development Council?

Set up by the Union Government in 2010 as a non-statutory body, based on earlier recommendation of Raghuram Rajan committee.
Chairperson- Union Finance Minister
Members- heads of financial sector regulators (RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, IRDA, IBBI, IFSCA), secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, Secretary of Department of Financial Services, chief economic adviser.
It also has a sub-committee called sub-committee of FSDC which is chaired by the Governor of RBI.
FSDC comes under the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

Objectives of FSDC:

Strengthening and institutionalizing the mechanism for maintaining financial stability.
Enhancing inter-regulatory coordination.
Promoting financial sector development.
Also focuses on financial literacy and financial inclusion.

Kiru Hydel Project

Context - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids at 30 locations on Thursday (February 22) at three places linked to former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik. The agency is investigating alleged corruption in the award of a contract for the Kiru Hydel Project, in J&K’s Kishtwar district.

Key facts related to the project:

Kiru hydroelectric power project is a run-of-the-river scheme.
It is being developed over the Chenab River in the Kishtwar Tehsil of Doha district in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India.
The project site lies approximately 1.5km downstream and 0.5km upstream at the convergence point of the Chenab River with the Singad and Bela streams.
It includes the construction of a concrete gravity dam on the Chenab River.
The project is being developed by Chenab Valley Power Projects (CVPP), a joint venture between National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC, 49%), Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC, 49%) and Power Trading Corporation (PTC, 2%).

Low Incomes of Farmers in India

Context: National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) ‘Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holding, 2019’ survey, which was released in 2021 has highlighted that average monthly income of a farmer household in India was as low as Rs. 10,218.

Farming in India:

Agriculture sector contributes to 16% of the overall GDP and accounts for employment of approximately 50% of the Indian population.
According to Economic Survey 2019-20, the share of agriculture and its allied sectors in India's export was around 11%.
Agricultural sector is a major contributor to rural economy, with majority of rural households being dependent on agriculture for sustenance and income.
Income disparity across states: There is a wide disparity in farming incomes at the state level as shown below. States such as Punjab, Haryana has highest average monthly income among states with farming households earning more than Rs 20,000 per month. While farmers in Jharkhand and Odisha fare poorly with average monthly incomes around Rs 5,000.

Issues with agriculture/farming in India:

Subsidy issues: Expenditure on subsidies account for around 8% of agricultural GDP but capital expenditure by government in agricultural sector is only around 3.2% of GDP. This in turn has become an obstacle for structural reforms in agricultural sector such as market reforms, high yield variety seeds, etc.
Production issues: Dalwai panel has spoken about the rising input cost of farming inputs. Also, the lower rate of adoption of modern farming techniques has made the production process quite inefficient. Ex: farm mechanisation rate is only around 25% in India.
Productivity issues: agricultural yield is found to be lower in the case of most crops, as compared to other top producing countries such as China, Brazil and the United States. Ex: India ranks third in the production of rice, its yield is lower than Brazil, China and the United States. The same trend is observed for pulses, where it is the second highest producer.

Market Issues: The agriculture market in India Is highly fragmented, with multiple restrictions- not allowed to sell in market area of one's choice, only 15% of the APMCs have cold storage facilities and less than 50% of mandis have weighing machines. Farmers are forced to indulge into distress sale of their produce.
Stagnant model of farming: Rice and wheat account for 40% of area under cultivation. The cereals account for 42% of area under cultivation but contribution to agricultural GDP is 20%. But horticulture cultivation accounts for 14% of area under cultivation but contribution to agricultural GDP is 33%.
Lower Export performance: India's processed form of agricultural exports is only around 16%. Also, India has been lacking in market intelligence to cater to ongoing demands of the market. Ex: Lower rate of adoption of organic farming in India, although in market there is a greater demand of it.
Low procurement on MSP: States with efficient procurement at MSP such as Punjab and Haryana have relatively higher incomes for farming households, while eastern states have fared poorly. In this context, Shanta Kumar Committee has pointed out that only 6% of farmers have benefitted from MSP regime.

Measures to increase the income of farmers:

Crop diversification: According to Dalwai Panel, increase in 1 ha area of diversification can lead to increase in 1 lakh of income annually to farmers.
Boosting productivity: Productivity of agriculture can be increased by introducing high yielding variety seeds, promoting farm mechanization, shifting to micro-irrigation, etc. Dalwai Panel- micro-irrigation can lead to 45% increase in productivity.
Investing in R&D in agriculture: According to ICRIER study, every rupee spent on agricultural R&D yield better returns (11.2 times) as compared to fertilizer (0.88) and power subsidy (0.79). The enhanced productivity will in turn lead to better income for farmers.
Market reforms: Digitalization of agricultural market(E-NAM), better infrastructure in terms of cold storage facilities, increasing accessibility of agricultural market to rural pockets, etc.
Alternative strategies: Promotion of FPOs, contract farming can help in connecting the farmers directly to their consumer base by eliminating the middlemen. Ex: success of dairy sector in Gujarat and Punjab via contract farming.
Realizing the export potential: The Indian agriculture stands 2nd in terms of agricultural production globally but 9th in terms of exports. In this context, it is important for the Government to incentivize the exports of processed, high value products.

Conclusion:

Agriculture sector in India embodies three thrust areas i.e. to promote inclusive growth, to enhance rural income and to sustain food security. Going forward, it is important to promote structural addressal of agricultural problems to achieve the vision of inclusive and sustainable development in India.

CERN moves ahead on Future Circular Collider (FCC)

Context: European Council for Nuclear Research, popularly known as CERN, plans to build a 91-kilometer-long largest particle collider underneath the Earth below the French and Switzerland borders.

About Future Circular Collider

Future Circular Collider is a proposed 91 km long at the CERN. It will overtake the 27 km long Large Hadron Collider (LHC) facility LHC is currently world’s largest particle collider.
Construction of the machine will require drilling a circular tunnel 200 metres underground. The facility will also have four experimental halls.
The facility will be used to collide electrons with their antimatter particles, positrons, with the aim of generating and studying in precise detail around one million Higgs bosons and other Standard Model particles.
FCC-hh: for hadron-hadron collisions, including proton-proton and heavy ion collisions.
FCC-ee: for electron-positron collisions
FCC-eh: for electron-hadron collisions
The second step would be an energy frontier collider, offering collision energies of 100 TeV or higher (i.e., 8 times the energy of the LHC) following developments in the superconducting and magnet technologies.
The final approval for the Future Circular Collider (FCC) will be given by CERN Council

Concerns against the Future Circular Collider

High cost of constructing the facility: Future Circular Collider facility will cost around 15 billion Swiss Francs. Bulk of the funding will come from the existing CERN budget. But the project will still require financial contributions from the countries that are full members of CERN (European Countries, USA & Japan etc.)
Criticism of design: A section of physicists have argued against the FCC’s design which aims to collide electrons with positrons. They have argued for colliding beams of muons instead of electrons or protons. Muons are much more massive than electrons, allowing for higher-energy collisions.

Other Proposed Particle Accelerators

High Luminosity LHC: High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider project aims to crank up the performance of the LHC to increase by increasing the integrated luminosity by a factor of 10 beyond the LHC’s design value. Luminosity is an important indicator of the performance of a particle accelerator as it is proportional to the number of collisions that occur in a given amount of time. The HL-LHC will produce at least 15 million Higgs bosons per year, compared to around three million from LHC. It is expected to be operational from 2029.
International Linear Collider (Japan): A proposed linear particle accelerator with a planned collision energy of 500 GeV with a possibility for a later upgrade to 1000 GeV. The ILC would collide electrons with positrons with length between 30 & 50 km. This will be more than 10 times as long as the 50 GeV Stanford Linear Accelerator, longest existing linear particle accelerator. Japan has shown interest in hosting the long planned International Linear Collider.
Circular Electron Positron Collider (China): A proposed Chinese electron positron collider. It would be world’s largest particle accelerator with a circumference of 100 kms.
Muon Collider: Particle Physicists in the US have called for building a muon collider. Muons are like electrons but about 200 times heavier. However, muons are unstable and quicly decay into other particles.

About CERN

CERN is an intergovernmental organisation that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world.
Established in 1954.
Based in Meyrin, western suburb of Geneva, on the France-Switzerland border.
Governance: CERN Council is the highest authority of the organisation.
CERN is an official UNGA observer. CERN's main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research – consequently, numerous experiments have been constructed at CERN through international collaborations.
Member States of CERN: Currently, there 23 member states of CERN: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Israel is the only non-European full member. (Cyprus, Estonia and Slovenia are Associate Member States in pre-stage to membership).
Associate Members of CERN: Croatia, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Pakistan, Turkiye and Ukraine. (India is also Associate member of CERN).