Daily Current Affairs

5-September-2023

Daily Current Affairs For UPSC ,Daily Current affairs of The hIndu and Indian Express.

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1. Aditya L1: its functioning and purpose.

Topic: GS3 – Science and technology.

About Aditya L1:

• The Sun’s corona, its outermost atmosphere, has an unusually high temperature of about two million degrees Celsius, which is much hotter than its surface temperature.
• The Aditya L1 mission aims to study the dynamics of the Sun and its impact on Earth’s climate and space weather by observing the Sun from a vantage point known as Lagrange Point 1 (L1).
• L1 is located approximately 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth, where the gravitational forces of the Sun and Earth are in equilibrium, allowing for uninterrupted solar observations.
• Solar activity is measured by the number of sunspots, which follow an 11-year cycle, but changes in solar radiation, particularly in the ultraviolet range, can impact Earth’s climate.
• The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) onboard Aditya L1 will observe UV radiation from different zones of the solar atmosphere to better understand solar variability.
• The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) will allow scientists to study the inner corona of the Sun, including regions as close as 1.05 solar radii, to gain insights into phenomena like Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs).
• Aditya L1 will also serve as a space weather station, monitoring solar wind parameters and geomagnetic storms, which can affect satellites and Earth’s technology infrastructure.

2. CBDCs can make payments across borders efficient: Das

Topic: GS3 – Digital economy.

Context:

• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das highlighted challenges in existing cross-border payments, including high cost, low speed, limited access, and insufficient transparency.
• He spoke at the G20 TechSprint Finale 2023 and emphasized the potential of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to address these challenges.
• CBDCs, with their instant settlement feature, can make cross-border payments cheaper, faster, and more secure.

What are Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)?

• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are digital representations of a country’s official currency, issued and regulated by its central bank.
• Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, CBDCs are typically centralized and operated by the government or central authority.
• CBDCs aim to provide a digital counterpart to physical cash, allowing for electronic payments and transactions.
• They are considered legal tender within the issuing country and can be used for various financial activities, including payments, remittances, and settlements.
• CBDCs offer the potential for increased financial inclusion, reduced transaction costs, and enhanced transparency in payments.
• They can be used for both domestic and cross-border transactions, potentially improving the efficiency of international payments.
• CBDCs can be issued in various forms, including wholesale (for financial institutions) and retail (for the general public).
• The implementation and features of CBDCs may vary from one country to another, reflecting local monetary policies and financial needs.

3. India may add 7 lakh gig jobs by November: TeamLease

Topic: GS3 – Gig economy.

Context:

• India’s e-commerce, retail, FMCG, and logistics sectors are projected to hire seven lakh gig workers by November, as reported by TeamLease Services, a staffing solutions provider.
• Approximately four lakh of these gig jobs are expected to be added in South India, with high demand in Bengaluru (40%), Chennai (30%), and Hyderabad (30%).

What are gig jobs?

• Gig jobs, short for “gig economy jobs,” are a type of employment characterized by short-term, temporary, or freelance work arrangements.
• In gig jobs, individuals typically work on a project-by-project or task-by-task basis rather than having traditional full-time employment with a single employer.

Key characteristics of gig jobs include:

• Temporary and Flexible: Gig workers are not bound by long-term employment contracts. They have the flexibility to take on multiple short-term gigs or projects, allowing them to work when and where they choose.
• Varied Work: Gig jobs can encompass a wide range of industries and services, including ride-sharing, food delivery, freelance writing, graphic design, web development, and more.
• Freelance or Independent Contracting: Gig workers are usually not considered regular employees of the companies or platforms they work for. Instead, they are independent contractors responsible for their own taxes, benefits, and expenses.
• Digital Platforms: Many gig workers find job opportunities through digital platforms or apps that connect them with customers or clients seeking specific services.
• Income Variability: Gig workers’ income can vary significantly from month to month, depending on the volume of work they take on and their rates.
• Lack of Traditional Benefits: Gig workers typically do not receive traditional employee benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, or paid time off.

4. A radical idea to settle the universe expansion dispute

Topic: GS3 – Science and technology.

Context:

• The universe is expanding, and the rate of expansion is called the Hubble constant.
• The precise value of the Hubble constant is a point of crisis in modern cosmology.
• Scientists have used three methods to measure the Hubble constant: supernovae, cosmic microwave background (CMB), and gravitational waves.
• The first two methods have reported different values for the Hubble constant.

New Method:

• A team of researchers has proposed a new way to measure the Hubble constant using lensed gravitational waves.
• Lensed gravitational waves are gravitational waves that have been bent by the gravity of massive objects.
• The researchers believe that by analyzing a collection of lensed gravitational waves, they can estimate the Hubble constant.

Strengths of the Method

• The method is independent of the other methods used to measure the Hubble constant.
• The method can also be used to determine other cosmological parameters, such as the density of matter.

Challenges

• The method requires a large number of lensed gravitational waves to be observed.
• The signal-to-noise ratio of lensed gravitational waves can be low, making them difficult to detect.
• The researchers are working to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of their method.
• They are also exploring other uses of their method, such as investigating the nature of dark matter.

5. Chandrayaan-3 lander hops on Moon, marks big leap for ISRO.
Topic: GS3-Science and Tech

Context:

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had reserved the best for the last. Just before it was put in hibernation mode to survive the approaching lunar night, the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was made to perform a small jump on the Moon.

Details of the Hop experiment:

• ISRO said, it soft-landed on the Moon “again”.
• Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment.
• On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30-40 cm away.
• Although it was a very small jump, it represented a significant and exciting step forward.
• It demonstrated ISRO’s capability to get the lander to fire its engines and produce the thrust to lift it off the ground.
• The second soft-landing, as ISRO described it, was very different from the first one.
• The nearly 1,750-kg lander was slightly lighter than the previous time, with the 26-kg rover having come out. That would also have changed the distribution of weight inside the lander.
• ISRO said the spacecraft and the instruments on board were all working fine after the ‘hop’.
• All systems performed nominally and were healthy. Deployed ramp, ChaSTE and ILSA (instruments) were folded back and redeployed successfully after the experiment.

How this hop experiment could be helpful?

• This capability is key to future lunar missions when ISRO would want the spacecraft to return with samples from the Moon, or when it plans to land human beings on the Moon.
• In those instances, the lander would have to make a lift off from the lunar surface and return to Earth.
• The thrust required in those situations would be much higher. But as a technology demonstration, the ‘hop experiment’ would remain one of the highlights of the Chandrayaan-3mission.

Future Missions

• Though ISRO is yet to announce follow-up missions to the Moon, scientists have told that a sample return mission was the next logical step to Chandrayaan-3.
• In fact, if Chandrayaan-2 had been successful in 2019, Chandrayaan-3 would have been a sample return mission.
• The human lander mission would also come at a later point.
• The Chinese Chang’e lunar programme had also progressed on similar lines.
• China sent an orbiter, its first lunar mission, in 2007, and then followed it up with a lander and sample return mission, the last one in 2020.

6. Indo-US talks

Topic: GS2- IR

Context:

• As US President Joe Biden comes to India for the G20 summit, New Delhi and Washington are working on an ambitious slew of deliverables for their bilateral engagement.

Details:

• The bilateral engagement talks would include discussions on:
  • a possible nuclear pact on small modular nuclear reactors,
  • an academic programme tailored for Indian students,
  • movement on the drone deal,
  • progress on US Congress approval for a defence deal on jet engines,
  • a joint humanitarian aid for Ukraine,
  • a more liberal visa regime for Indians and new consulates in each other’s countries.
• The Indian and the US officials are in hectic negotiations for the last few weeks about framing a “robust” and “outcome-oriented” joint communique for President Biden’s first visit to India as US President.
• Normally, bilateral visits are not included during the G20 summits but India has made an exception for the US President and the Saudi Crown Prince.

Nuclear deal:

• India and the US are hoping to iron out the differences over the nuclear deal which cropped up after the civil nuclear liability law and the two sides hope to seal an agreement or an understanding to setup small nuclear reactors seen as easier than going for more capital intensive large reactors.
• In June, both sides had discussed negotiations between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC)for the construction of six nuclear reactors in India.
• Now the discussion on developing next generation small modular reactor technologies is in top gear now, which are meant for domestic market as well as for export to third countries.

Jet Engines deal:

• The two sides are also working towards fast-tracking the GE jet engines deal that was agreed upon in the June visit, after signing of a pact between General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the manufacture of GEF-414 jet engines in India for the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Light Combat Aircraft Mk 2.
• After the US Congress last week approved the deal that will enable a higher level of transfer of US jet engine technology than ever, the two sides are working to expedite the conclusion of this deal.

Drone deal:

• After India conveyed its plans to procure General Atomics MQ9B HALE UAVs which are highly powerful drones, the two sides are discussing a plan that General Atomics will also establish a Comprehensive Global MRO facility.
• A concrete announcement is expected during the visit as well.

Academic Programmes:

• The two sides are also working towards announcing academic programmes tailored for Indian students, where STEM courses will be offered for a yearlong Master’s degree with a specialisation in a particular industry.
• After the programme, the students will have the option of staying in the US for up to three years and work there.

Aid to Ukraine:

• Washington and New Delhi, which have differed on their criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are also considering sending in joint aid to Ukraine.
• India has so far sent in about 100 tons of humanitarian aid, which included essential medicines, medical equipment, blankets, tents, food, and the latest tranche was delivered by the Indian ambassador in Kyiv to Zaporizhzhia (where the nuclear plant is located) last month.
• While Washington has so far sent in lethal weapons and India has only sent humanitarian aid, a joint humanitarian aid is being considered as a message to Moscow but the proposal is yet to be finalized.

Liberal visa:

• As the two sides had decided to launch a pilot to adjudicate domestic renewals of certain petition-based temporary work visas later this year, a firm launch date is also expected to be finalised and announced during the US President’s visit.
• This will be a major boost for Indian nationals who are H1-B visa holders, and the idea is to expand this facility to other categories as well.
• The two sides will also start work on new US consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, and an Indian consulate in Seattle for later this year.
• An announcement of two new consulates in the US is expected as well.

7. How Invasive Species Are Costing Global Economy Billions Annually.

Topic:GS3- environment

Context:

• The team of 86 researchers from 49 countries released a four-year assessment of the global impacts of some 3,500 harmful invasive species, finding that economic costs now total at least $423 billion every year, with the alien invaders playing a key role in 60% of recorded plant and animal extinctions.

Details:

• The environmental chaos sown by invasive species, whose spread around the world has seen economic damages quadruple every decade since 1970 as per scientists. Few examples of the environmental chaos sown by invasive species are:
  • Fishing grounds choked by water hyacinths.
  • Song bird eggs gobbled up by rats.
  • Power plant pipes clogged by zebra mussels.
  • Electrical lines downed by brown tree snakes.
• Warmer temperatures under climate change are expected to further drive the expansion of invasive species.

What are invasive species?

• Invasive species are plants or animals, often moved around by human activity, that take hold in an environment with deleterious effects.
• These range from out competing native wildlife, damaging infrastructure, and threatening human health and livelihoods.
• Impacts are often slow to materialise, but can be catastrophic when they do.
• The deadly wildfires in Hawaii last month were driven by flammable invasive grasses, brought over from Africa as livestock pasture.
• Invasive mosquito species, too, can spread diseases such as dengue, malaria, Zika, and West Nile.

How to eradicate invaders?

• About three-quarters of the negative impacts from invasive species occur on land, especially in forests, woodlands, and farmed areas.
• While invasives can come in many forms, including microbes, invertebrates and plants, animals often have the greatest environmental impact, particularly predators.
• Getting rid of invasive species once they are established, however, is
• Some small islands have seen success in eradicating invasive rats and rabbits with trapping and poisonings.
• But larger populations that are quick to reproduce can be tricky.
• Invasive plants often leave their seeds lying dormant in the soil for years.
• Prevention measures through border biosecurity and import controls, most effective.

8. Manipur, Punjab, 2 others have high debt to GSDP level of over 40%

Topic: GS3-Economy, Prelims

Context:

• Four States — Manipur, Nagaland, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh have ahigh debt to gross state domestic product (GSDP) ratio of over 40 per cent which raise a red flag, according to a study by Bank of Baroda (BoB).

Details:

• A high debt to GDP ratio indicates that debt and GDP of those economies are not well balanced and they don’t produce goods and services which are sufficient to pay back debts without incurring further debt.
• Punjab which has the highest size of the budget has a debt to GSDP ratio of around 47 per cent.
• Manipur has the ratio at 40 per cent, Nagaland 42 per cent and Arunachal Pradesh 53 per cent.
• There are only 3 states which have a debt-GSDP ratio of less than 20 per cent.
• When the country is aiming to bring down the aggregate ratio to 20 per cent intuitively it can be seen that this will take a lot of time.
• Odisha, Gujarat and Maharashtra are the prime performers here.
• There are another 4 states, Karnataka, Telangana, Assam and Chhattisgarh which are at a level of less than 25 per cent, while 5 others, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and MP have ratios between 25-30 per cent.
• The balance 15 states have ratios above 30 per cent and would need very strict fiscal monitoring to bring down the debt levels. This would require both lower fiscal deficits as well as higher growth in GSDP.

Major Highlights:

• A major issue that has been irking policy makers is the rising level of state debt.
• In FY23, based on the budgeted numbers, total liabilities of all states put together was projected at 29.5 per cent of GDP.
• In FY21 it had peaked at 31.1 percent, “hence there has been some improvement.”
• According to BoB study, on the side of fiscal deficit, 11 have targeted ratios of up to 3 per cent which indicates that they are confident of their finances and are also within control of their future debt levels.
• Gujarat has the lowest at 1.8 per cent and Maharashtra follows with 2.5 per cent.

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