1. PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2021
TAG: GS 2: POLITY, GS 2: SOCIAL JUSTICE
THE CONTEXT: The Parliamentary Panel examining the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 gets another extension.
EXPLANATION:
- The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2021.
- Later, it was referred to the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports.
- The panel has received multiple extensions since it began its deliberations.
- The last meeting that the panel held on the Bill was on May 17, 2022. The 31-member committee has only three women MPs.
- Three-month extension has been granted to the panel till January 24, 2024 to examine and present its report on the Bill.
- The Bill seeks to bring parity in the minimum age of marriage for men and women overriding all existing laws, including any custom, usage, or practice governing the parties in relation to marriage.
THE PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2021:
- The Bill amends the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 to increase the minimum age of marriage of females to 21 years.
- Further, the Bill will override any other law, custom, or practice.
- Under the 2006 Act, a person married below the minimum age may apply for annulment within two years of attaining majority (i.e., before 20 years of age). The Bill increases this to five years (i.e., 23 years of age).
KEY ISSUES AND ANALYSIS:
- The minimum age of marriage at 21 years is higher than the minimum age of majority (18 years). The Supreme Court has ruled that marriage between adults is a fundamental right.
- The question is whether prohibiting marriage for persons between 18 and 21 years is a reasonable restriction on their right to marry.
- About a quarter of 20–24 year-old women are married before the age of 18 years, despite that being the minimum age of marriage since 1978.
- The limited success of the current law raises the question whether an increase in minimum age would have any significant impact on reducing the incidence of child marriage.
- In 2018, the Supreme Court, while reading down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, ruled that consensual sex between consenting adults is a fundamental right under Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
- If this Bill were passed, it would be legal to have sexual relations but illegal to marry for those between the ages of 18 and 21 years.
- The Bill increases the minimum age of marriage for females to 21 years, bringing it on par with that for males. However, the age of attaining majority is 18 years under the Majority Act, 1875.
- This difference may have consequences regarding the rights and responsibilities of persons between 18 and 21 years of age.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF VARIOUS COMMITTEES:
- The table below provides recommendations by various national and international Committees and Conventions on age of marriage.
| Committee/Convention | Recommended age | Rationale/Observations |
| UNICEF (2020) | 18 for both male and female | A person is emotionally, physically and mentally mature to marry at 18. |
| The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (2016) | 18 for both male and female | Should be equal to the age of majority. |
| Parliamentary Standing Committee (while examining the 2004 Bill, which later became the 2006 Act) | 21 for male, 18 for female |
Two different ages have been accepted socially as well as culturally in the country; however, it also observed that conflicting definition of child in different legislation may cause confusion, ambiguity, and doubt. |
| Law Commission of India | 18 for both male and female | There is no scientific reasons for the age to be different (2008).
Age of majority grants all citizens the right to choose their governments, the legal age of marriage should also be recognised as such (2018). |
2. MICROALGAE AND GLOBAL WARMING
TAG: GS 3: ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
THE CONTEXT: As per a new study, microalgae, which form the base of the food chain in the ocean and capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, appear to rely on a novel strategy to cope with global warming.
EXPLANATION:
- As climate change reduces the availability of nutrients in the sea, marine microalgae or eukaryotic phytoplankton fire up a protein called rhodopsin.
- It is related to the protein in the human eye responsible for vision in dim light.
- This light-responsive protein is helping the microalgae flourish with the help of sunlight in place of traditional chlorophyll.
- As per the study, Microbial rhodopsins are proposed to be major light capturers in the ocean.
- Estimates suggested they may absorb as much light as chlorophyll-based photosynthesis in the sea, which also captures light to generate energy and food.
- However, their biological role in these organisms was unclear before the study.
DEFICIENCY OF NUTRIENTS IN OCEAN:
- Global warming is increasing drought on land and the same thing happens in the ocean. The warmer the surface water gets, the lower are the nutrients in these surface water layers.
- There is less mixing between the surface waters and nutrient-rich deeper waters as the oceans warm. So, nutrients become scarce at the surface, impacting the primary producers such as microalgae that are present in the top layer.
- Algae starve and, therefore, produce less food and capture less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- In these areas, the capacity of algae to make food and take up carbon dioxide reduces further.
LABORATORY EXPERIMENT:
- To understand the role of rhodopsins, researchers cloned them in the lab and confirmed that they capture light to generate energy (ATP).
- Adenosine triphosphate or ATP is the energy currency of all cells.
- They also tested the abundances of rhodopsin transcripts (a molecule of ribonucleic acid or RNA that contains genetic information copied from deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA).
- Rhodopsins were found to be more concentrated in low latitudes, where there is less mixing of ocean waters and lower concentrations of nutrients, including dissolved iron.
- For algae to produce food and to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, they need sunlight.
- To harness sunlight, the microalgae require a lot of iron. However, 35 per cent of the surface of the ocean does not have enough iron to support the growth of algae, he explained.
- g., Southern Ocean, which is the largest iron-limited aquatic ecosystem. But they are home to the largest populations of consumers such as krill, fish, penguins and whales, which depend on primary producers such as microalgae.
WAY FORWARD:
- These findings have the potential to reduce the negative effects of changing environmental conditions, such as ocean warming and even the reduction in the productivity of crops.
- The same mechanism could be deployed to enhance the activity of microbes that cannot use light, such as yeast.
- We can modify them so that they can use light for growth, which is desirable in biotechnology, such as the production of insulin, antibiotics, enzymes, antivirals and even biofuel.
3. QUANTUM ALGORITHMS
TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
THE CONTEXT: Research in quantum algorithms is highly interdisciplinary, involving computer science, mathematics, and physics. The field is also still evolving, and there are plenty of opportunities to make significant contributions.
EXPLANATION:
- We often hear that quantum computers efficiently solve problems that are very difficult to solve with a classical computer.
- But even if the hardware is available to build a quantum computer, exploiting its quantum features requires us to write smart algorithms.
- An algorithm is a sequence of logically connected mathematical steps that solve a problem.
- For example, an algorithm to add three numbers can have two steps: add the first two numbers in the first step and the result to the third number in the second step.
QUANTUM ALGORITHMS:
- Quantum algorithms solve problems that classical computers can’t by exploiting two unique properties of quantum mechanics: superposition and entanglement.
- Superposition:
- It allows a quantum bit, or qubit, to be in multiple states at the same time.
- This is unlike a classical bit, which can only be in one of two states at a time, either 0 or 1.
- Entanglement:
- It allows two or more qubits to be linked together in such a way that they share the same fate.
- This means that if you measure the state of one qubit, you will instantly know the state of the other qubits, even if they are physically separated.
- Quantum algorithms use superposition and entanglement to perform calculations that are impossible for classical computers.
- For example, Shor’s algorithm can factor a large number into its prime factors much faster than any known classical algorithm.
- This could have implications for cryptography, as many encryption algorithms rely on the difficulty of factoring large numbers.
- Another example is Grover’s algorithm, which can search an unsorted database much faster than any known classical algorithm.
- This could have applications in drug discovery and other fields where it is necessary to search through large databases.
- Quantum algorithms are still in their early stages of development, but they have the potential to solve some of the most challenging problems facing humanity today.
- For example, quantum algorithms could be used to develop new drugs and materials, design more efficient algorithms, and break modern encryption algorithms.
EXAMPLES OF THE QUANTUM ALGORITHMS:
- Shor’s algorithm:
- One of the earliest quantum algorithms is the factorisation algorithm developed by Peter Shor. It requires fewer steps to factorise a number than one that operates with classical principles.
- The efficiency of an algorithm is related to the number of steps required as the size of the input increases. An algorithm is more efficient if it requires fewer steps (and thus less time). From this perspective, Shor’s algorithm is far more efficient than any known classical algorithm for factorisation.
- Modern cryptography – which is used to secure user accounts on the internet, for example – depends on the fact that there are no efficient classical algorithms that can factorise large integers. This is the source of the claim that the availability of quantum computers (with an adequate number of qubits) will challenge the safety of classical cryptography.
- Grover’s and Deutsch-Jozsa algorithms:
- Another popular quantum algorithm is the quantum search algorithm developed by Lov Grover.
- It looks for a numerical pattern in a large list of numbers. A deterministic classical algorithm requires almost half the number of steps as there are patterns in the list.
- That is, to identify a pattern from a list of one-million patterns, the classical approach may need half a million steps. The quantum algorithm will require only a thousand steps.
- In fact, for every 100x increase in the list’s size, Grover’s algorithm will need only 10x more steps. This is the kind of speed-up this quantum algorithm achieves.
- Yet another scheme that showcases the exponential speed-up is the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm.
- Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm can determine the mapping with one computation independent of the size of the input.
- We just need to make sure there are enough qubits available to represent the number of digits in the input.
4. RABI CROPS
TAG: GS 3: AGRICULTURE
THE CONTEXT: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi Crops for Marketing Season 2024-25.
EXPLANATION:
- Government has increased the MSP of Rabi Crops for Marketing Season 2024-25, to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce and incentivise crop diversification.
- The absolute highest increase in MSP has been approved for lentil (masur) at Rs.425 per quintal followed by rapeseed & mustard at Rs.200 per quintal.
- For wheat and safflower, an increase of Rs.150 per quintal each has been approved.
- For barley and gram an increase of Rs.115 per quintal and Rs.105 per quintal respectively, has been approved.
- The increase in MSP is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times of the All-India weighted average Cost of Production.
- The expected margin over All-India weighted average Cost of Production is 102 percent for wheat, followed by 98 percent for rapeseed & mustard; 89 per cent for lentil; 60 per cent for gram; 60 percent for barley; and 52 percent for safflower.
OTHER INITIATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENT:
- The Government is promoting crop diversification towards oilseeds, pulses and shree anna/millets to enhance food security, increase farmers’ income, and reduce dependence on imports.
- Besides the Price Policy, the Government has undertaken various initiatives such as the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), and the National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP).
- Its objective is to provide financial support, quality seeds to encourage farmers to cultivate oilseeds and pulses.
- To extend the benefits of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme to every farmer across the nation, Government has launched the Kisan Rin Portal (KRP), KCC Ghar Ghar Abhiyaan, and Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS).
- It aimed to provide timely and accurate weather information to empower farmers in making timely decisions regarding their crops.
- These initiatives aim to revolutionize agriculture, enhance financial inclusion, optimize data utilization, and improve the lives of farmers across the nation.
RABI CROPS:
- Rabi crops are sown in mid-November, preferably after the monsoon rains have ended, and harvested in April or May.
- Rabi crops are sown in the winter and harvested in the spring.
- A good winter rain is helpful for Kharif crops but bad for Rabi crops.
- The crops are grown either with rainwater that has percolated into the ground or using irrigation.
- Major Rabi crops are wheat, gram, peas, barley etc.
- A warm climate is required for seed germination and cold climate for the growth of crops.
CHALLENGES FACED BY RABI CROPS:
- Climate change is leading to more extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods. This can damage rabi crops and reduce yields.
- Rabi crops are susceptible to a number of pests and diseases. This can also reduce yields and increase costs for farmers.
- Farmers often receive low prices for their rabi crops. This can make it difficult for them to make a profit.
SOURCE: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1968729
5. DIPHTHERIA
TAG: GS 3: ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
THE CONTEXT: According to a recent announcement from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Guinean Health Ministry has declared a diphtheria outbreak.
EXPLANATION:
- According to the World Health Organisation, from 4 July to 13 October 2023, a total of 538 cases of diphtheria, were reported in the Kankan region, in the east-central part of Guinea.
- The 1-4 years age group accounted for the largest proportion of reported cases.
DIPHTHERIA:
- Diphtheria is a serious infection caused by strains of bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae that make toxin.
- It can lead to difficulty breathing, heart rhythm problems, and even death.
- CDC recommends vaccines for infants, children, teens, and adults to prevent diphtheria.
TRANSMISSION:
- Diphtheria bacteria spread from person to person, usually through respiratory droplets, like from coughing or sneezing.
- People can also get sick from touching infected open sores or ulcers.
- Those at increased risk of getting sick include:
- People in the same household
- People with a history of frequent, close contact with the patient
- People directly exposed to secretions from the suspected infection site (e.g., mouth, skin) of the patient.
TREATMENT:
- Using diphtheria antitoxin to stop the bacteria toxin from damaging the body.
- This treatment is very important for respiratory diphtheria infections, but it is rarely used for diphtheria skin infections.
- Using antibiotics to kill and get rid of the bacteria. This is important for diphtheria infections in the respiratory system and on the skin and other parts of the body (e.g., eyes, blood).
COMPLICATIONS:
- Complications from respiratory diphtheria may include:
- Airway blockage
- Myocarditis (damage to the heart muscle)
- Polyneuropathy (nerve damage)
- Kidney failure
- For some people, respiratory diphtheria can lead to death.
- Even with treatment, about 1 in 10 patients with respiratory diphtheria die. Without treatment, up to half of patients can die from the disease.
SOURCE: https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142512
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