GS Paper 3

Biggest Chinese Antarctic fleet sails to build research station

Context: China has sent its biggest fleet comprising two icebreakers and a cargo vessel to Antarctica. China aims to establish its fifth research station on the world's southernmost continent.

Antarctica Treaty

Antarctica is the only continent in the world where there has never been war, the environment is fully protected, and scientific research has priority. To protect this distinguished character countries came together to conclude a treaty in 1959.

Background

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve nations that had been active during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957-58.
It entered into force in 1961 and has since been acceded to by many other nations. The total number of Parties to the Treaty is now 56.
India became a signatory in the year 1983.

Original signatory of this treaty

S.No.	Countries	S.No.	Countries
1	Argentina	7	New Zealand
2	Australia	8	Norway
3	Belgium	9	South Africa
4	Chile	10	United Kingdom
5	France	11	United States
6	Japan	12	Erstwhile USSR

Key provisions of the treaty

The treaty provides for various provisions related to peaceful research activities in Antarctica some of them are as follows:

It stipulates that Antarctica should be used exclusively for peaceful purposes, military activities, such as the establishment of military bases or weapons testing, are specifically prohibited;
It guarantees continued freedom to conduct scientific research, as enjoyed during the IGY;
Promotes international scientific cooperation including the exchange of research plans and personnel, and requires that results of research be made freely available;
Sets aside the potential for sovereignty disputes between Treaty parties by providing that no activities will enhance or diminish previously asserted positions concerning territorial claims, provides that no new or enlarged claims can be made, and makes rules relating to jurisdiction;
Prohibits nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive waste;
Provides for inspection by observers, designated by any party, of ships, stations and equipment in Antarctica to ensure the observance of, and compliance with, the Treaty;
Requires parties to give advance notice of their expeditions; provides for the parties to meet periodically to discuss measures to further the objectives of the Treaty; and
Puts in place a dispute settlement procedure and a mechanism by which the Treaty can be modified.
The Treaty also provides that any member of the United Nations can accede to it.

India and Antarctica

India signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1983.
India ratified the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in 1985.
India signed Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty in 1998. (Madrid Protocol)
India’s research stations in Antarctica: Dakshin Gangotri (De-commissioned now); Maitri and Bharati. Managed by National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Nov 2021: India launched its 41st Scientific Expedition to Antarctica.

Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome

Context: The Supreme Court granted an exception under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 to a woman suffering from Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH).

Major Highlights:

The SC stayed the operation of Rule 7 of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, to allow a woman suffering from the MRKH Syndrome to undergo surrogacy using a donor egg.
- In India, there is no fundamental right to surrogacy and that the Act aims to regulate it.
- Rule 7 of the Surrogacy Act bans use of donor eggs for the procedure, i.e., out of three things, the sperm, egg and the womb, two must be of the intending couple.

Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome:

MRKH is a rare congenital disorder that affects the female reproductive system. It is also known as Rokitansky syndrome.
Its characteristic feature is an underdeveloped or absent uterus and vagina, but functioning ovaries and female chromosome pattern. Because of which it becomes difficult for a woman to get pregnant and bear children.
MRKH is present at birth, but doctors may not discover it until the person reaches adolescence and does not have a menstrual cycle.
Symptoms can vary significantly between people. There are two types of MRKH syndrome: Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1 is the more common type and only affects the vagina and uterus.

Type 2 is less common. It affects areas outside the reproductive system, such as the kidneys, ears, skeleton, and heart or cardiovascular system.

What are Dark Patterns?

Context: The Consumer Affairs Secretary has said that the dark patterns practices carried out by airlines and travel portals can be deemed cyber-crimes.

Dark Patterns

Dark patterns are found in various digital interfaces including websites, mobile apps, and online services.
These are deceptive design techniques or user interface elements intentionally crafted to trick or manipulate users into making choices that are detrimental to their interests. E.g., Buying a more expensive product, paying more than what was initially disclosed, sharing data, making choices based on false or paid-for reviews, subscription services or recurring payments without their explicit consent.
Engaging in manipulative conduct using dark patterns in online platforms constitutes unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act 2019.

Types of Dark Patterns

‘Maoists’ open fire at Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary

Context: Forest officials of Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala), have reported an incidence of firing by suspected Maoists.

Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary

Location:

It is situated in the southeastern part of the Kannur district in the state of Kerala.
It is located on the western slopes of Western Ghats
Aralam is Kerala's northernmost wildlife sanctuary.

Drainage:

The Cheenkannipuzha / Cheenkanni River forms the main drainage system on the southern side.
Narikkadavuthodu, Kurukkathodu and Meenumuttithodu from the northern upper reaches, they flow southwards to join Cheenkannipuzha.

Biodiversity:

Forest: The wildlife sanctuary exhibits a variety of forests which includes

West Coast tropical evergreen forest.
West Coast semi-evergreen forests.
South Indian moist deciduous forest
Southern hilltop evergreen forest and plantations

This is the only protected area of the West Coast Tropical Evergreen forest of Dipterocarpus-Mesua-Palaquium type.
Dipterocarpus-Mesua-Palaquium - These forests occur in areas adjoining tropical wet evergreen, and form a transition between the evergreen and moist deciduous forests.

Flora and Fauna :

Surrounded and adjoined by the continuous forests of Kodagu and Wayanad, this sanctuary harbours a wide variety of fauna and flora which belong to the Western Ghats indigenousness.
It is home to a wide variety of species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes.
Elephant, Gaur, Tiger, Panther,Sambar, Spotted deer, Barking deer, Wild boar, Sloth bear, Nilgiri langur, Bonnet macaque, Common langur, Wild dog, common otter, Malabar giant squirrel etc are the major mammals.

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Carbon Nanoflorets

Context: Researchers at IIT Bombay have synthesised particles that absorb three frequencies of sunlight and convert it to heat with an efficiency of 87%.

About Carbon Nanoflorets

The carbon nanostructure has the potential to revolutionise solar energy conversion.
The scientists began their experiments with a white material called dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS) and transformed it into the darkest black carbon nanoflorets.
- To create the carbon nanoflorets, the DFNS powder was heated in a furnace and introduced acetylene gas into the chamber.
- The white powder turned black, indicating that carbon had been deposited on the DFNS.
- After dissolving the DFNS with a strong chemical, what remained were spherical nanostructures made of carbon cones.
The nanoflorets resemble tiny marigold flowers.

Unique properties

Carbon nanoflorets had an unprecedented ability to absorb sunlight at multiple frequencies and convert it into heat with exceptional efficiency.
- They can absorb infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light, unlike traditional solar-thermal conversion materials that only absorb visible and ultraviolet light.
Their cone-like shape minimises reflection allowing for maximum light absorption. Most of the light that falls on the material is reflected internally.
The nanoflorets possess long-range disorder which prevents heat dissipation over long distances, enabling efficient heat retention.

Significance

The material is ripe for commercialisation as carbon is inexpensive and the nanoflorets can generate heat sustainably, without having to burn fossil fuels.
- 1 square metre coating of carbon nanoflorets could vaporise 5 litres of water per hour, surpassing the performance of commercial solar stills.
They can offer a sustainable solution for heating homes and sterilising surfaces in hospitals without relying on fossil fuels. With its wide range of potential applications and minimal environmental impact, the material has potential to play a significant role in the renewable energy sector.

Researchers identify a new mushroom species from the Western Ghats

Context: A tiny, fragile-looking mushroom sporting a honey-yellow ‘cap’ found on the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode here has been identified as a new species.

Key facts regarding mushrooms

Mushroom are the umbrella-shaped fruiting body (sporophore) of certain fungi.

How plants, animals and mushrooms differ?

Plants have chlorophyll and make their own food through photosynthesis.Animals ingest their food. Fungi, lacking chlorophyll, exist on decaying material in nature and on substrate of various compositions when commercially grown.

Note - Although considered a vegetable, mushrooms are neither a plant nor animal food. They are a type of fungus that contains a substance called ergosterol, similar in structure to cholesterol in animals. Ergosterol can be transformed into vitamin D with exposure to ultraviolet light.

Popularly, the term mushroom is used to identify the edible sporophores.
- The term toadstool is often reserved for inedible or poisonous sporophores.
Edible mushrooms and fungi are free of cholesterol and contain small amounts of essential amino acids and B vitamins.
By fresh weight, the common commercially grown mushroom is more than 90% water, less than 3% protein, less than 5% carbohydrate, less than 1% fat, and about 1% mineral salts and vitamins.
Poisoning by wild mushrooms is common and may be fatal or produce merely mild gastrointestinal disturbance or slight allergic reaction.
Non-nutritive substances like indoles, polysaccharides, polyphenols, and carotenoids which show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects are more important in mushrooms.
Mushrooms also have the presence of an amino acid called glutamate, which is also found in meats, fish, cheeses, and simmering soups.

Thallium- a lethal weapon

Context: In a crime-incident in India, Thallium, a toxic metal, was administered in food leading to a series of deaths and illnesses within a family.

About Thallium

Thallium is a chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81.
It is a highly toxic metal that was once used in various industrial applications, including rat poison and as a depilatory agent.
Thallium is an abundant element and is present in about 0.7 mg/kg of the Earth’s crust.
Thallium does not exist in free elemental form in nature. It mostly exists in the form of ores with other elements, mostly potassium.
Commercially, thallium is extracted from its sulphide-ores of heavy metals, such as zinc, lead, copper etc.
Thallium compounds are tasteless, odourless, and colourless, which makes it particularly dangerous for human consumption.
Thallium poisoning can occur through various routes, including ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact with thallium compounds. It interferes with the normal functioning of cells by disrupting various enzymes and processes in the body.
Symptoms of thallium poisoning can vary and may include severe gastrointestinal distress, neurological symptoms, and hair loss.

Issues with Indian Railways

Context: Indian has the fourth largest Rail network in the world. It is the largest passenger transport and employs more than a million people(Direct & indirect). It is not only an enabler of mobility but also contributes significantly to the overall GDP of the country.

Despite its significance and having such a long network, railway’s share in total surface freight transport in India is only around 30%.

The Indian Railways’ Issues

Operational Issues

Operating ratio of railways is very high. Operating ratio refers to the ratio of total operation expenditure to its revenues. High operating ration means the revenues generated by the railways are able to meet only the operational expenditure leaving less scope for capital expenditure. Hence, Indian Railway(IR) entirely depends on budget support or market borrowings for capital expenditure.

***(Operation Ratio of Railways in the last decade)***

Cross subsidisation: IR has kept passenger fares very low and cross-subsidised it by making freight expensive. This not only increased the logistic costs of manufacturing in India but also made our goods uncompetitive in the global market.
Congested Networks: India's railway tracks are burdened by too many passenger trains often leading to route congestion. Since freight and passenger trains use the same network(barring few dedicated freight corridors) more than 40% of Indian Railways' sections are used beyond 100% capacity. This resulted in low speed of freight trains. According to CAG audit, the average speed of freight trains in India is below 30 kmph.
Competition from Roadways: High cost of transporting goods in railways coupled with low speed of freight trains shifted freight market towards roadways. This has been facilitated by expansion of Road infrastructure in the last two decades. The share of railways in India’s freight business has steadily decreased to approx. 27% from around 80% at the time of independence.
Confined to Bulk goods: IR mostly transports bulk goods like Coal, Cement, steel and Food grains etc where as fast moving consumer goods(FMCG) moved to roadways. With initiatives like “Coal linkage rationalisation” and “Decentralised Procurement” of food grains, the freight market of IR is expected to reduce further in the future.
Safety Issues: Anil kakodkar committee flagged safety issues in Indian railways due to low scope of capital expenditure and neglect of infrastructure maintenance.
Organisational Issues:
- Burden of allied activities on IR like maintaining schools, hospitals and its own Police force.
- Highly centralised decision making with less autonomy provided to zones.
- There is a conflict of Interest in IR being both the regulator and operator and it hindered private investment in railways for fear of not having level playing field.

Steps taken by Government to Improve Railways

Augmenting revenues:
- Tariffs of passenger trains were rationalised
- IRCTC tied up with Amazon and MMT to attract more passengers
Merging of budgets: Merging of Railway budget with the main budget not only reduced populism but also enabled railways to retaining the dividends with them(instead of giving back to the government) and utilise those resources for capacity building.
Improving Infrastructure:
- Separate Dedicated freight corridors were constructed to de-congest the network.
- Mission Raftaar to increase the average speed of freight trains
- Rail Sanrakshan Kosh was constituted to eliminate manned and unmanned level crossing and to introduce advanced signalling system.
Organisational Reforms:
- Rail Development Authority was constituted to decide on Pricing of services and suggest measures to augment revenues.
- Merged different services into one IRMS to encourage the fast and delivery-oriented decision-making process in the railways.

Ball lightning

Context: The most rare and mysterious form of lightning is ball lightning, which occurs during thunderstorms.

Ball lightening

Ball lightning, also called globe lightning, is a rare aerial phenomenon in the form of a luminous sphere that is generally several centimeters in diameter.
It usually occurs near the ground during thunderstorms, in close association with cloud-to-ground lightning.
It is a ball of luminosity that usually occurs near the impact point of a flash and moves horizontally at a speed of few centimeters per second.
It can penetrate closed windows, is usually accompanied by a hissing sound, and has a lifetime of several seconds.
The color is quite variable, and the ball often ends with an explosion.
It is not usually destructive.
It occurs at times of intense electrical activity in the atmosphere.
These balls are said to be plasmas. Plasma is a completely ionized state of matter, at high temperature, in which positive and negative ions freely move out.
However, no theory has so far satisfactorily explained the behavior of a ball as scientists have not been able to reproduce it in the laboratory.

India’s Green Hydrogen move may worsen pollution

Context: India’s green hydrogen move may worsen pollution if steps are not in place, says study.

Green Hydrogen

It also referred to as ‘Clean hydrogen’ is produced by splitting water into two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen (electrolysis process) atom using clean energy from surplus renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power.
Green hydrogen could be a critical enabler of the global transition to sustainable energy and net zero emissions economies.

Green Hydrogen Standard

Green Hydrogen shall mean Hydrogen produced using renewable energy, including production through electrolysis or conversion of biomass. Renewable energy also includes such electricity generated from renewable sources which is stored in an energy storage system or banked with grid in accordance with applicable regulations.
Green Hydrogen produced through electrolysis: Non-biogenic greenhouse gas emissions arising from water treatment, electrolysis, gas purification and drying and compression of hydrogen shall not be greater than 2 kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of Hydrogen, taken as an average over last 12-month period.
Green Hydrogen produced through conversion of biomass: Non-biogenic greenhouse gas emissions arising from biomass processing, heat/steam generation, conversion of biomass to hydrogen, gas purification and drying and compression of hydrogen shall not be greater than 2 kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of Hydrogen taken as an average over last 12-month period.
Bureau of Energy Efficiency shall be the Nodal Authority for accreditation of agencies for monitoring, verification, and certification of Green Hydrogen production projects.
A detailed methodology for measurement, reporting, monitoring, on-site verification and certification of green hydrogen and its derivatives shall be specified by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.

National Green Hydrogen Mission

Objective- “To make India the Global Hub for production, usage and export of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives.”

This will contribute to India’s aim to become Aatmanirbhar through clean energy and serve as an inspiration for the global Clean Energy Transition.
The Mission will lead to significant decarbonization of the economy, reduced dependence on fossil fuel imports, and enable India to assume technology and market leadership in Green Hydrogen.”

Key component of the mission

The achievement of Mission objectives requires a comprehensive strategy that coordinates efforts across multiple sectors.

The Mission strategy accordingly comprises interventions for:

Demand creation by making Green Hydrogen produced in India competitive for exports and

through domestic consumption.

Addressing supply side constraints through an incentive framework.
Building an enabling ecosystem to support scaling and development.

Potential Outcome

Challenges in Green Hydrogen development

Renewable energy supply crunch: India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, piloted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) expects to manufacture five million tons by 2030. This would require the installation of renewable energy capacity worth 125 GW (1 GW is 1,000 megawatts) and the use of 250,000 gigawatt-hr. units of power, equivalent to about 13% of India’s present electricity generation. However, the present renewable energy capacity is 179 GW only (July 2023).
Relying on conventional energy sources: -The main concern is that if electrolysers, which split water to produce hydrogen and oxygen, were run 24x7, they would be expected to operate even at night when no solar power is available. This would then mean tapping into conventional coal-fired electricity (about 70% of the electricity on the grid is coal-generated).
Burning Biomass: -Another challenge is that India’s standards allow the use of biomass — which also results in carbon emissions when burnt — to produce green hydrogen.
Technology: It is a rich source of energy, but the challenge is to compress or liquify it. It needs to be kept at a stable minus 253°C (far below the temperature of (-) 163°C at which Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is stored; making its ‘prior to use cost’ extremely high.
Prohibitive Costs: The ‘production cost’ of ‘Green hydrogen’ has been a prime obstacle. Research conducted by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) indicates that, the cost of its production is about $1.5 per kg by 2030 (for countries with eternal sunshine and huge unoccupied area) if several conservative measures are implemented.
Lack of Manufacturing and deployment of electrolysers: It will have to increase at an unprecedented rate by 2050 from the current capacity of 0.3 gigawatts to almost 5,000 gigawatts.
High cost of Storage system: Fuel cells which convert hydrogen fuel to usable energy for cars, are still expensive.
Poor Infrastructure: The hydrogen station infrastructure needed to refuel hydrogen fuel cell cars is still widely underdeveloped.

Way Forward

A massive investment in R&D and infrastructure for hydrogen production
Investment in storage and transportation infrastructure and demand development.
Incentives for investment in this sector.
Mainstreaming other uses of hydrogen such as fuel cells, HCNG etc.
Accelerating the production of renewable energy as per the Paris Target. i.e., 500GW by 2030.

Death Valley National Park

Context: A sprawling temporary lake at Badwater Basin salt flats, caused by flooding from Tropical Storm Hilary, at the Death Valley National Park in California. The storm delivered a year’s worth of rain to the valley, which is the hottest place on the Earth, in a single day. The Badwater basin itself is located 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in USA.

Death Valley National Park

Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert.
Death Valley is the largest U.S. National Park outside Alaska at 3,422,024 acres.
Even so, 93% of the park is protected as officially designated Wilderness.
It is the hottest, driest, and lowest of all the national parks in the United States.
This wild country includes low valley floors crusted with barren salt flats, rugged mountains rising as much as 11,000 feet, deep and winding canyons, rolling sand dunes, and spring-fed oases.
The Timbisha Shoshone Indians lived here for centuries before the first white man entered the valley.
UNESCO included Death Valley as the principal feature of its Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve in 1984.
Flora and Fauna: -Death Valley is the hottest and driest places in North America, yet it is home to over 1000 species of plants and 440 species of animals.
Common plant species
- At lower elevations, creosote bush, desert holly, and mesquite can be found.
- Shadscale, blackbrush, Joshua tree, pinyon-juniper can be found at higher elevations.
- Sub-alpine limber pine and bristlecone pine woodlands can be found at higher elevations.
Common Animal Species
- Coyotes, ravens, roadrunners, ground squirrels, Desert bighorn sheep, Kangaroo rats, Western Pipistrelle, Devils Hole Pupfish, and lizards.
Rivers: - The Amargosa is the only free-flowing river in the Death Valley region of the Mojave, providing a rare and lush riparian area in the desert.

Small Savings Scheme | Significance & Challenges

Context: Collections under small savings schemes have seen a pickup in April-September, with deposits for the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme surging over 2.5 times year-on-year to Rs 74,675 crore. This marks a 160% increase over Rs 28,715 crore collected in the corresponding period a year ago.

Small savings schemes

The Government formulated a basket of small savings schemes to meet the varying needs of different groups of small investors. They Include:

Postal deposits
Savings certificates (National small savings certificate and KVP)
Social Security Schemes (PPF and Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme)
Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme

All the collections under the schemes are accrued into a National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) in the Public Account of India.

Significance:

Social Security: In a country where more than 90% of the workforce belongs to informal sector and are not covered under any statutory social security benefits, small savings schemes provides such social security net to the marginalised sections.
Savings rate: Small savings schemes owing to their high interest rates, implicit sovereign guarantee and tax benefits attracts marginal sections and enhances household savings rate of the economy.
Mobilization of resources: Increased small savings would enable the government to borrow its fiscal deficit from National Small Savings Fund instead of depending upon market borrowings.

Challenges with Small Savings Schemes:

Overlapping instruments: At present the small savings schemes basket comprises 12 instruments with overlapping objectives of promotion of savings among ̳small income groups.
Viability of NSSF: The asset liability mismatch of NSSF in terms of tenure and increased gap between income of the fund and its expenditure.
Monetary Policy transmission: As the returns on small savings are typically higher than the bank deposits, the cost of funding for the banks increased and are unable to reflect the change in policy rates in their lending rates.

Keeping in view of the above challenges, the government rationalised the small savings schemes and since 2016, interest rate resetting has been done based on yields of government securities of corresponding maturity with some spread on the scheme for senior citizens, as advised by the Shyamala Gopinath Committee.