TOP 5 TAKKAR NEWS OF THE DAY (21st JUNE 2023)

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1. ARE PHONONS, PARTICLES OF SOUND, QUANTUM TOO?

TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: Recently, IBM published a paper in which it claimed to have demonstrated that a quantum computer could solve a useful problem that today’s conventional computers can’t, a result merited by concerns that their computations might become too unreliable when they also become complicated .

EXPLANATION:

• One of the two big news items these days from the realm of computing is quantum computers (the other is artificial intelligence).
• Physicists have found that packets of vibrational energy behave like packets of light energy using a new kind of beam-splitter.

Quantum Computing

• The premise of quantum computing is that information can be ‘encoded’ in some property of the particle, like an electron’s spin, and then processed using these peculiar abilities.
• As a result, quantum computers are expected to perform complicated calculations that are out of reach of the best supercomputers today.
• Other forms of quantum computing use other units of information. For example, linear optical quantum computing (LOQC) uses photons, the particles of light, as qubits.
• Just like different pieces of information can be combined and processed by encoding them on electrons and then having the electrons interact in different ways, LOQC offers to use optical equipment like mirrors, lenses, splitters, waveplates, etc.  with photons to process information.
• In fact, any particle that can be controlled and manipulated using quantum-mechanical phenomena should, on paper, be usable as an information unit in a quantum computer.

What are qubits?

• Quantum computers use qubits as their basic units of information.
• A qubit can be a particle like an electron; a collection of particles; or a quantum system engineered to behave like a particle.
• Particles can do funky things that large objects like the semiconductors of classical computers  can’t because they are guided by the rules of quantum physics.
• These rules allow each qubit to have the values ‘on’ and ‘off’ at the same time.

What are phonons?

• Photons are packets of light energy; similarly, phonons are packets of vibrational energy.
• The problem is that researchers can manipulate electrons using electric currents, magnetic fields, etc., and they can manipulate photons with mirrors, lenses, etc.
• In the new study, researchers from the University of Chicago have reported developing an acoustic beam-splitter to manipulate phonos.

What is a beam-splitter?

• Beam-splitters are used widely in optics research.
• Imagine a torchlight shining light along a straight line. This is basically a stream of photons. When a beam-splitter is placed in the light’s path, it will split the beam into two: i.e. it will reflect 50% of the photons to one side and let the other 50% pass straight through.
• While it seems simple, the working of a beam-splitter actually draws on quantum physics. If you shine a million photons at it, it will create two beams, each of 500,000 photons.
• We can then reflect these two beams to intersect each other, creating an interference pattern. But researchers have found that an interference pattern appears even when they shine photons at the beam-splitter one by one.

What are the photons interfering with? The answer is themselves.

• This is because a) particles can also behave like waves, and b) until an observation is made, a quantum system exists in a superposition of all its possible states (like a qubit being partly ‘on’ and partly ‘off’ at the same time).
• So when the single wave interacts with the beam-splitter, it enters a superposition of the two possible outcomes reflected and transmitted. When these states recombine, an interference pattern shows up.

What did the new study do?

• In the new study, the researchers developed an acoustic beam-splitter a tiny device resembling a comb, with 16 metal bars jutting out of it.
• It was placed in the middle of a 2-mm-long channel of lithium niobate. Each end of the channel had a superconducting qubit, a qubit whose circuit components were superconducting that could both emit and detect individual phonons. The whole setup was maintained at an ultra-low temperature.
• If these phonons were converted to sound, their frequency would be too high for humans to hear. Each phonon in the study represented, according to the paper, the “collective” vibration of around one quadrillion atoms.
• The team found that these phonons interacted with the comb just like photons interact with an optical beam-splitter. When a phonon was emitted from the left side of the channel, it was reflected half of the time and transmitted to the right side the other half.
• When phonons were emitted simultaneously from the left and the right sides, they both ended up on one side (as expected)

2. EMERGING MONKEYPOX OUTBREAKS IN ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

TAG:  GS 2: HEALTH ISSUES

THE CONTEXT: In recent weeks, although overall global cases of mpox have been decreasing, some regions are seeing an increase in reported cases.

EXPLANATION:

• Over a month ago, the World Health Organization declared the Mpox global health emergency over. However, even though cumulative cases across the world continue to decline, there has been an increase in reported cases from some countries, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific Region.

What is monkeypox?

• Monkeypox, or mpox, is a viral disease that primarily spread to the human population through zoonotic spillovers, with rodents and primates serving as potential reservoirs.
• Mpox can be transmitted between humans through close contact and exposure to infected bodily fluids or lesions. Sexual contact is also believed to contribute to the spread of the disease particularly among certain demographics.
• Mpox was a rare infection that was predominantly restricted to some countries in Africa until early 2022, when a rise in cases across the globe where the disease was not endemic, particularly in Europe and North America.

Cause for concern

• Mpox being reported from newer territories is worrisome as the disease is potentially expanding its reach through an undetected spread, posing new challenges in its containment efforts.
• The lack of a corresponding surge in reported cases suggests that there may be challenges in accurately capturing and documenting cases in the Middle East, suggesting that there may be challenges in detecting cases in the region.
• This also highlights the need for improved reporting mechanisms to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the situation in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the African region has also experienced a surge in cases, notably in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria.
• Genomic surveillance of the monkeypox pathogen allows for contact tracing and monitoring of its evolution.

3. BETELGEUSE

TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: The bright, red star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion has shown some unexpected behaviour. In late 2019 and 2020 it became fainter than before at least in records going back more than a century. Briefly it became fainter (just about) than Bellatrix, the third brightest star of Orion. This event became known as the “great dimming”.But Betelgeuse has since become bright again. For a few days this year, it was the brightest star in Orion.

EXPLANATION:

• Stars are, by and large, remarkably stable. They shine with the same brightness year after year. But there are exceptions and some stars dubbed variable stars change in brightness. Most famous is Mira, the “star of wonder”, which was discovered as a variable star by the German pastor David Fabricius in 1596 – it is a pulsating star which regularly expands and contracts.
• Algol is another well known example which is periodically eclipsed by a companion star. There are around 30 such variable stars visible with the naked eye, although it requires care to notice their variation in brightness.
• Betelgeuse, the seventh brightest star in the sky (discounting the Sun), is the brightest of the variable stars. Sometimes Betelgeuse becomes nearly as bright as Rigel (the blue fourth brightest star in the constellation), while at other times it is notably fainter. The variation is caused by pulsations, similar to those of Mira although not as large or as regular.
• Sometimes, however, a star can briefly become extremely bright. The brightest and rarest among those are the supernovae, formed when an entire star ends its life in a powerful explosion.
• Supernovae can be bright enough to be visible during the day, although that has only happened a few times in the past 1,000 years. A nearby, bright supernova is the kind of event astronomers live for but which few of us will ever get to see.

Mysterious behaviour

• Although Betelgeuse is a variable star, the great dimming in 2021 was extreme. Within months, it had in fact dimmed by about 60%. This was eventually shown to be caused by a cloud.
• It is still don’t know what caused the sudden brightening – it is now 50% brighter than usual. But an impending supernova doesn’t seem that likely. In these kinds of stars, a supernova explosion is triggered in the core. Brightness variations, on the other hand, are a surface phenomenon.
• The extreme brightening may in fact be due to the same dust cloud that caused the dimming, now reflecting light from the star towards us and making it appear brighter.
• Betelgeuse is about 15- to 20-times more massive than the Sun, and stars of this mass are expected to end their lives in a powerful explosion known as a supernova. Betelgeuse’s red colour shows it is a red supergiant, meaning it’s already approaching the end of its life.
• But that end may still be a million years away. Stars like Betelgeuse can live in excess of 10 million years – a very brief period to astronomers, but a very long time to anyone else.

Explosion dynamics

• If Betelgeuse does go supernova, there would be detect a rain of massless particles called neutrinos, which would be harmless. After that, the star would quickly brighten.
• After one or two weeks it would shine with about the same brightness as the full Moon. Betelgeuse would then fade over the next several months but remain visible in the day time for six to 12 months.

Is there any danger to us?

• Supernovae produce high energy particles called cosmic rays, which can get past the shield of the earth’s magnetic field. But the amounts would be small compared to other radiation we receive for all but the nearest supernovae.
• A supernova explosion would also create radioactive iron. In fact this substance has been found in the earth’s seabed and on the Moon, believed to have formed in a supernova explosion between 2 and 3 million years ago. That supernova was perhaps 300 light-years from us, closer than Betelgeuse, but far enough to cause no major problems for life on the earth.
• A very close supernova, closer than 30 light-years, could cause major problems as the cosmic rays could cause ozone destruction and dangerous UV levels on the earth. It could reduce ozone by half over a period lasting hundred to thousands of years: this level is considered capable of causing an extinction event. But such a close supernova would be very rare, and may happen only once per billion years.

4. ROOTS OF INDIA’S ANAEMIA PROBLEM

TAG: GS 2: HEALTH ISSUES

THE CONTEXT: New Diet and Biomarker Survey(DABS) trace the roots of anaemia problems looks at nutritional profiles and biomarkers, and may put ‘anaemia back to the dietary deficiency position, which is not always the case’.

EXPLANATION:

• The Union Health Ministry is rethinking how it takes stock of anaemia across the country. Anaemia’s prevalence will be tracked using the new Diet and Biomarkers Survey (DABS), launched in December 2022 by the National Institute of Nutrition, which will “map the diet, nutrition and health status and provide a correct estimate of anaemia among urban and rural population using state-of-the-art techniques.
• The NFHS is a nationally representative survey providing granular data at the State and district levels. NFHS-5 conducted between 2019-21 showed an “inexplicable” jump in anaemia levels across all age groups as more Indians were anaemic than ever before, with at least 67% of children having anaemia as compared
• World Bank data shows one in two Indian women is anaemic, 20% higher than the world average.

All about anaemia

• Anaemia is linked to insufficient healthy red cells (haemoglobin) that carry oxygen in the body.
• Reasons for anaemia include iron deficiency, deficiencies in folate, Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, chronic conditions such as diabetes or inherited genetic disorders.
• There are several documented types of anaemia, with some being: aplastic anaemia; iron deficiency anaemia; sickle cell anaemia; thalassemia; vitamin deficiency anaemia.
• Anaemia extracts a significant physical and emotional toll, causing fatigue, heart problems, pregnancy complications and life threatening consequences due to chronic anaemia.
• Studies have also mapped the intangible social and economic burden, with people reporting lost productivity and schooling due to fatigue.
• India has recognised anaemia as a public health challenge, launching the Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy in 2018, aiming to provide supplementation to the last mile, raise awareness levels and improve diagnostics.
• In the Union Budget 2023, Finance Minister announced plans to create awareness of sickle cell anaemia, with universal screening of seven crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas.
• Other government schemes, including the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), National Nutritional Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme (NNAPP) and Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, also list addressing anaemia as a challenge.
• Evidence shows India has increased the iron and folic acid (ICA) supplement coverage for all age groups steadily. However, challenges run parallel to these initiatives: including a lack of awareness about anaemia causes, undernourishment since birth, resistance to and information gap around iron-folic acid (ICA) tablets, cultural biases that fuel a lack of agency, and deficient health interventions that don’t reach the last mile.

The opportunities and challenges with DABS

• The Diet and Biomarkers Survey-I, for which the questionnaire is available online, will be conducted by the National Institution of Nutrition along with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
• It will be the first reflection of “nutrient-composition data” on cooked and uncooked food across India, which can help develop interventions to tackle public health issues like obesity.
• DABS may offer more accurate, macro-level figures since it uses the venous blood sampling method. Venous blood sampling is considered the “gold standard” for anaemia diagnosis. A biomarker survey overcomes the limitations of questionnaires that rely on self-reported dietary intake measurements, which can often be biased, and instead more precisely “identify persons with specific dietary deficiency” in support of medical treatment, evidence shows.
• A biomarker test for anaemia can be used to analyse levels of folate, iron, vitamin B12, copper and zinc in the body, helping trace the cause of anaemia.
• Moreover, DABS also links a person’s nutrition profile with anaemia, providing a more comprehensive picture. The survey form includes questions at the household level, about the food and groceries, type of drinking water, cooking fuel, education status, religion and community details.
• What is unclear as of now is the list of biomarkers that will be assessed or how the data will be disaggregated and used for health interventions.
• However, the sample size for DABS is restricted to 1.8 lakh people (as opposed to NFHS’s 6.1 lakh). Venous blood testing requires trained personnel who are equipped to draw blood, which restricts the scale of the survey. Studies show “most population‐based surveys use point‐of‐care diagnostics and capillary blood” because it allows for testing more people.
• Sickle cell anaemia, for instance, is concentrated in tribal belts and areas that historically have a high malaria burden. Central government-funded schemes such as the public distribution system (PDS) or PM-Poshan (mid-day meals), focusing on iron supplementation, can cause adverse health issues among these communities, activists warned last year.

Anatomy of an anaemia survey

• Experts argue for filling more data gaps in the clinical and social understanding of anaemia. Both DABS and NFHS link anaemia to a haemoglobin deficiency, but assessment should ideally go beyond haemoglobin cut-offs and iron deficiencies.
• Diverse causes of anaemia, including hemoglobinopathy, inherited genetic disorders and vitamin deficiencies, are often overlooked but still require district-level screening and diagnosis. This skews health interventions whether through tablets or iron fortification, all of our interventions towards anaemia currently are focused on pumping iron.
• Moreover, since anaemia affects more women globally, a gendered lens to disease mapping is needed for targeted interventions. It is known that inequitable gender norms exacerbate anaemia cases among women systemic disregard for women’s health, unequal food allocation or lack of financial autonomy to seek healthcare shape a district’s anaemia profile.
• A comprehensive dataset can map other common causes of anaemia (beyond iron deficiency), and demographic- and region-specific burden, which can help calibrate targeted interventions that account for gender, caste, class and other socio-economic markers.

5. CONTENTION BETWEEN COAL INDIA AND Competition Commission of India (CCI)

TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Supreme Court held that there was “no merit” in Coal India Ltd (CIL), a public sector undertaking, being excluded from the purview of the Competition Act. The Court was hearing the PSU’s appeal against the Competition Appellate Tribunal’s order which alleged the former of abusing its position.

EXPLANATION:

What was the case about?

• In March 2017, Competition Commission of India (CCI) had imposed a penalty of ₹591.01 crore on CIL for imposing unfair/discriminatory conditions in fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with the power producers for supply of non-coking coal.
• In other words, CIL was found to be supplying lower quality of the essential resource at higher prices and placing opaque conditions in the contract about supply parameters and quality.
• The regulator contended that Coal India and its subsidiaries operated independently of market forces and enjoyed market dominance in the relevant market with respect to production and supply of non-coking coal in India.

What did the PSU argue in court?

• Coal India argued that it operated with the principles of ‘common good’ and ensuring equitable distribution of the essential natural resource. With this objective, it was secured as a ‘monopoly’ under the Nationalisation Act, 1973 (more specifically, the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973).
• The entity said that it may have to adhere to a differential pricing mechanism to encourage captive coal production (referring to mines that are handed over to companies for specific and exclusive use through lease or any other route).
• Differential pricing, which may be inconsistent with market principles, was to ensure the viability of the larger operating ecosystem as well as for pursuing welfare objectives.

How did the CCI respond?

• The respondents broadened the scope of the arguments. The Raghavan Committee (2020) report, put up for perusal by the respondents, had observed that state monopolies were not conducive to the best interests of the nation.
• They could not be allowed to operate in a state of inefficiency and should instead, operate amid competition. Furthermore, coal ceased to be an ‘essential commodity’ in February 2007 and the Nationalisation Act too was removed from the Ninth Schedule (laws that cannot be challenged in court) in 2017.
• It was also pointed out that Coal India was a fully-government owned entity until the disinvestment in 2010. The government’s shareholding reduced to 67% with the rest held by private hands.
• Moreover, it was stated that the CIL directed 80% of its supplies to power companies. The latter would then pass power generated using coal to discoms (distribution companies), who, in turn, would supply power to the final consumer.
• The continual supply of coal, adherence to the contract, reasonableness in the rates and quality of coal also serve a common good, the respondents contended. Coal constitutes about 60 to 70% of the costs for power generation companies. Thus, irregular prices and supply will have a significant bearing indirectly on consumers.

What were the SC’s observations?

• The court said there was “no merit” in the argument that the Competition Act would not apply to CIL because they are governed by the Nationalisation Act, and it cannot be reconciled with the Competition Act.
• “The novel idea which permeates the Act, would stand frustrated, in fact, if the state monopolies, the government companies and public sector units are left free to contravene the (competition) act,” it stated. Separately, it said that entities cannot act with caprice, treat unfairly otherwise or similarly situated entities with discrimination.
• The judgment reinforced the principle of “competitive neutrality” entailing that the Competition Act equally applies to public and private sector enterprises.
• “Government companies, across sectors, which may be dominant in their sector of operation, would have to conduct business in a fair and non-discriminatory manner so as to not fall foul of the principles of antitrust law. This allows for a level playing field between public sector and private enterprises operating in India.

COAL INDIA LIMITED

• Coal India Limited (CIL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. It is headquartered at Kolkata. It is the largest government-owned-coal-producer in the world
• CIL have now 8 subsidiaries viz. Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI).
• The CMPDI is an engineering, design and exploration company set up for preparing perspective plan(s), rendering consultancy services and undertaking exploration and drilling work to establish coal reserves in the country and collection of detailed data for preparation of projects for actual mining. The other seven subsidiaries of CIL are coal producing companies.
• CIL and its subsidiaries are incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 and are wholly owned by the Central Government. The coal mines in Assam and its neighbouring areas are controlled directly by CIL under the unit North Eastern Coalfields.

 COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA (CCI)

• The Competition Act, 2002 was passed by the Parliament in the year 2002, to which the President accorded assent in January, 2003. It was subsequently amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007.
• In accordance with the provisions of the Amendment Act, the Competition Commission of India and the Competition Appellate Tribunal have been established. The Competition Commission of India is now fully functional with a Chairperson and six members. The provisions of the Competition Act relating to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position were notified on May 20, 2009.
• The Competition Commission of India (‘Commission’) has been established to enforce the competition law under the Act. The Commission consists of a Chairperson and not more than 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.
• It is the statutory duty of the Commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants, in markets in India as provided in the Preamble as well as Section 18 of the Act.
• The Commission is also mandated to give its opinion on competition issues to government or statutory authority and to undertake competition advocacy for creating awareness of competition law.