Daily Current Affairs UPSC 11 April 2024

International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)

• Jagjit Pavadia re-elected to INCB for term 2025-2030.
• INCB is an independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for UN drug control conventions.
• Established in 1968 in accordance with Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961.
• Members: 13 members elected by UN Economic and Social Council for five years.
• Functions laid down in Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971, and United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988.

Curative Petition

Supreme Court Quashes Arbitral Award Against Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

1. Curative Petition as Last Constitutional Remedy

• Curative petition is the final legal option available to a person after their review petition has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
• Established in the case of Rupa Ashok Hurra v. Ashok Hurra & Anr.
• The curative power of the Court is derived from Article 142, which gives the Court the power to do complete justice.

2. Criteria for Filing a Curative Petition

a. A curative petition can be filed if the petitioner can prove:

• Violation of principles of natural justice.
• Judge failed to disclose connection with the subject matter.
• Apprehension of bias and judgment adversely affects the petitioner.

Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act of 1954

Supreme Court Case on Misleading Advertisements by Ayurveda Company

• The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case involving an Ayurveda-related company accused of making misleading claims in their advertisements.
• The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act of 1954 prohibits misleading claims in advertisements.
• Section 4 of the Act specifically prohibits advertisements that give false impressions about the true nature of a drug.
• Section 5 of the Act prohibits the advertisement of magic remedies for treatment.
• Magic remedies are defined as charms, talismans, mantras, or kavachas that are alleged to possess miraculous powers for diagnosis, cure, or mitigation.

New formulations by ICAR

ICAR's New Microbial Formulations

1. Bactolime integrates

• Contains PGPRs with liming material.
• Ensures availability of essential nutrients to plants.
• Enhances nutrient use efficiency.

2. Bactogypsum

• Ameliorates high pH soils.
• Ensures simultaneous delivery of plant-beneficial bacteria.

3. Trichogypsum

• Ameliorates high pH soils.
• Ensures delivery of Trichoderma (a fungal biocontrol agent).

Gypsum

• Contains Calcium and Sulphate.
• Used to counteract soil salinity/sodicity.

Section 127A of Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951

• Election Commission rules on anonymous political posters.
• Section 127A of RPA,51 prohibits printing or publishing without name and address.
• Purpose of disclosing identity of publishers is to fix responsibility for inappropriate content.

Global hepatitis report 2024

• India ranks second globally for hepatitis B & C cases.
• Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver caused by viruses and other factors.
• Types B and C are the most common causes of liver cirrhosis and cancer.
• Vaccine available for hepatitis B, not for hepatitis C.

Methanol

1. USA recalls hand sanitisers with methanol.

a. FDA warns of methanol dangers.

• Nausea, coma, seizures, blindness, CNS damage, death.

Methanol (CH3OH)

Also known as wood alcohol.

Characteristics:

• Colorless, volatile liquid with sweet pungent odor.
• Mixes completely with water.
• Used as alternative fuel.

Uses:

• Synthetic dyestuffs, pharmaceuticals, perfumes.

Treatment for methanol poisoning:

• Administer ethanol or fomepizole antidote.

Piezoelectricit

• Command Hospital, Pune achieved a milestone by successfully conducting piezoelectric Bone Conduction Hearing Implants (BCI), making it the first government hospital in India to do so.
• Piezoelectric BCI system is a medical electronic device implanted in hearing impaired patients to improve their hearing.
• Piezoelectricity is the generation of electric charge in certain non-conducting crystals when subjected to mechanical pressure, with positive charge on one side and negative charge on the other.
• Piezoelectricity is used in various applications such as microphones, sensors, and Piezoelectric Motors.

Republic of Ireland (Capital: Dublin)

New Prime Minister in Ireland.

Political Features:

• Located on an island west of Great Britain.
• Borders Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom).
• Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea, and Irish Sea.
• Separated from Great Britain by North Channel, Irish Sea, and St. George’s Channel.

Geographical Features:

• Highest Peak: Carrantuohill.
• Longest river: River Shannon.
• Largest lake: Lough Neagh.

"Renowned Physicist Peter Higgs, Father of Higgs Boson Theory, Dies"

Physicist Peter Higgs and the Higgs Boson

• Peter W. Higgs, who theorized the existence of the Higgs Boson, passed away.
• He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013 for his theoretical discovery of the mechanism influencing the origin of subatomic particle mass.
• The Higgs Boson was theorized in 1964 and discovered in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland.

Higgs Boson and Higgs Field

• The Higgs Boson is a fundamental particle associated with the Higgs field, which gives mass to other fundamental particles.
• Particle mass depends on their interaction with the Higgs field.
• Photons do not interact with the field and are massless, while particles like electrons and protons do interact and have mass.
• The concept of the Higgs field and Higgs particle is fundamental to our current understanding of the natural world.

Other Fundamental Particles

• Fermions, which include quarks and leptons, are the building blocks of matter.
• Bosons are particles that carry energy and forces throughout the universe.

"UNHRC Appoints Expert on Human Rights and Climate Change"

Appointment of expert on human rights and climate change by 55th UNHRC

• Recognized the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable populations.

Need for integration of human rights in climate change

• Climate change affects various human rights such as right to life, food, etc.
• Marginalized communities are especially vulnerable to climate change.
• Integration requires improved mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Ways to integrate human rights into climate change

• Promotion of alternative energy sources, forest conservation, etc.
• Involvement of affected communities in project design and implementation
• Access to due process and remedy for rights violations.

Initiatives

• Paris Agreement 2015: Pledge to respect human rights in all climate actions.
• Geneva Pledge on Human Rights and Climate Action, 2015 for sharing best practices.
• National level initiatives such as National Action Plan on Climate Change, Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
• Supreme Court recognition of Right to Be Free from Adverse Effects Of Climate Change.

Global human rights principles in context of climate change

• Principle of intergenerational equity.
• Accountability and effective remedy for human rights harms caused by climate change.

"Tri-Service Brainstorming for Jointness and Integration"

Importance of Jointness and Integration in Armed Forces

• Jointness of defence forces involves using resources of all three Services together while respecting their unique strengths to achieve the best results and avoid duplication.
• Integration of defence forces means formally combining different elements into a single structure, such as through theaterisation to enhance capabilities.

Benefits of Integration

• Promotes a culture of cooperation among defence forces and enhances their warfighting capacities.
• Helps modernize and prepare forces for the future by streamlining budget spending and addressing funding shortages.
• Positions India as a regional and global power.

Challenges in Achieving Integration

• Lack of a Joint Services Doctrine.
• Absence of a coherent National Security Strategy.
• Institutional inertia among different wings of the armed forces.

Initiatives for Integration

• Appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff to promote jointness in operations, logistics, transport, and training across the armed services.
• Creation of Joint Commands like the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command to oversee specific areas.
• Establishment of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff to provide unified military advice to the government.

NGT orders Punjab government to reveal plan to reduce stubble burning

NGT's Directive to Punjab Government on Stubble Burning

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has instructed the Punjab government to reveal its plan for reducing stubble burning incidents.

About National Green Tribunal (NGT)

• Establishment: Created as a statutory body under the NGT Act, 2010.

Composition

• Head: Chairperson.
• Members: 10-20 judicial and expert members each.

Qualification

• Chairperson and judicial member can be a former Supreme Court Judge or High Court Chief Justice.
• Judicial member can only be a former High Court judge.

Mandate

• Specialized judicial body for environmental cases in the country.
• Aims to resolve applications or appeals within 6 months.

Guiding Principle

• Follows principles of natural justice.
• Applies sustainable development, precautionary principle, and polluter pays principle.

Power

• Has the power of a civil court.
• Can take suo motu cognisance.
• Can provide relief in the form of compensation and damages.

Appeal

• Orders are binding but can be reviewed.
• Appeals can be made in the Supreme Court within ninety days.

Benches

• NGT has presence in five zones: North (Principal Bench in Delhi), Central, East, South, and West.

NGT adjudicates matters relating to 7 legislations only:

1. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

2. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977.

3. Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

4. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

5. Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

6. Public Liability Insurance Act, 199.

7. Biological Diversity Act, 2002 .

UN Report: Financing Sustainable Development 2024

Key Highlights of UN Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024

• Developing countries face a financing gap of $2.5 trillion to $4 trillion annually.
• Access to long-term and contingency financing is more difficult for developing countries.
• Policy, regulatory, and tax frameworks are not aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Reasons for Low Financing of SDGs

• Systemic risks like the Covid-19 pandemic and increased frequency of disasters have stressed national financing frameworks.
• Average GDP growth rates in developing countries have fallen to just over 4% annually.
• Debt service burden for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) rose to 12% in 2023.
• Other concerns include digitization-induced risks and rising geopolitical tensions.

Recommendations for Improving Financing for SDGs

• Build tax capacity to increase tax revenue for SDGs.
• International development cooperation to mobilize financial resources.
• Implement a new approach to blended finance focused on sustainable trade and responsible business conduct.
• Address debt challenges of developing countries.
• Enhance coherence between trade, investment, and sustainable development.
• Fund data and statistical systems to produce actionable insights for advancing SDGs.

"WTO Report: Global Trade Trends and Statistics"

Fragmentation in Goods Trade

• Intermediate goods trade decreased by 6% in 2023, while non-intermediates remained flat.
• Share of Asian trading partners in China's parts and accessories trade declined from 62.8% to 60.2%.
• Disruptions in Panama Canal and Suez Canal are testing the resilience of global trade.
• Traffic diversion around the Cape of Good Hope has added around 10 days to Asia-Europe journeys.

Fragmentation in Services

• Possible impact of data flow disruptions on services trade.
• Evidence of "friendshoring" in ICT services, with US imports from Asia decreasing and those from North America increasing.
• 'Friendshoring' is a trade practice focusing on political and economic allies in supply chain networks.

Initiatives to Boost Global Supply Chain and Trade

• Supply Chain Resilience initiative (SCRI) launched by India, Japan, and Australia.
• India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor to connect India to the Gulf and Europe.
• Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to strengthen economic engagement among partner countries.