×

UPSC Courses

DNA banner

DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

Monthly DNA

29 Jan, 2024

22 Min Read

Prehistoric Rock Paintings in Tamil Nadu

GS-I : Art and Culture Paintings

The Tamil Nadu government has planned to declare the entire hillocks of Alampadi, Melvalai, and Sethavarai a protected monument.

  • All 3 sites are located in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu.
  • Melvalai – A nondescript village whose paintings dates back to 3000 B.C. and majority of etchings was in red ochre.

The word, Rattapparai, has become synonymous with the rock art painted in red ochre.

  • There are 4 sets of paintings that includes human figurines, animals, and symbols.
  • 1st set – There are 3 persons, with a man mounted on a horse; another is pulling the horse with a rope fastened to the animal, while the 3rd man is depicted with hands stretched, welcoming others.
  • 4th set 6 men standing and a few others with hands stretched out.
  • Link with IVC – Painting depicting a group of men rowing a boat, indicates a link between the Indus Valley and the southern region.

Alampadi

Sethavarai

  • The paintings are in red and white ochre.
  • It has paintings of animals, especially a deer and a fish.
  • The outlines are in red ochre, while the inner portion is filled with white ochre.
  • Challenges – There have been instances of unregulated entry of people and they also face threats from quarrying and vandalism.
  • Measures – Tamil Nadu Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1966 and Tamil Nadu Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1971.

Source:

SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon)- Japan

GS-III : S&T Space mission

Japan recently landed a spacecraft called SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) on the lunar surface, becoming the 5th country after the Soviet Union, the US, China and India to achieve a soft landing on the moon.

About SLIM

  • SLIM was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in September 2023 aboard the H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima spaceport.
  • It aims to demonstrate precision landing within 100 metres through new technologies.
  • It also carried two mini robotic rovers developed by Sony and Tomy for reconnaissance.
  • The mission aims to revitalise Japan's space program which suffered setbacks like the failure of the flagship H3 rocket in March 2023.

Objectives

  • The mission aims to observe X-rays coming from deep space and to identify their wavelengths with unprecedented precision.
  • It will use state-of-the-art spectroscopy to measure changes in the brightness of celestial objects at different wavelengths.
  • It detects X-rays with energies ranging from 400 to 12,000 electron volts. (For comparison, the energy of visible light is 2 to 3 electron volts.)
  • This range will provide astrophysicists with new information about some of the universe's hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity.

Future Moon Missions

  • ISRO (India): LUPEX with JAXA, Chandrayaan-4
  • NASA (USA): Lunar Trailblazer Mission, Viper Rover, Artemis 2-6 (Manned mission).
  • ROSCOSMOS (Russia): LUNA 26-28, ORYOL
  • CNSA (China): Chang'e 6-8
  • JAXA (Japan): Destiny+

Source:

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

GS-III : Economic Issues Agriculture

Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

  • At present, the Central Government sets MSP for 23 crops.
  • These include:
    • 7 cereals (bajra, wheat, maize, paddy barley, ragi and jowar);
    • 5 pulses (tur, chana, masur, urad and moong);
    • 7 oilseeds (safflower, mustard, niger seed, soyabean, groundnut, sesame and sunflower);
    • 4 commercial crops (raw jute, cotton, copra and sugarcane).

MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the producer - farmers - against excessive fall in price during bumper production years. The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for their produce from the Government.

The major objectives are to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure food grains for public distribution. In case the market price for the commodity falls below the announced minimum price due to bumper production and glut in the market, government agencies purchase the entire quantity offered by the farmers at the announced minimum price.

Importance of Minimum Support Price:

  1. Fixed Remunerations: The farmers are financially secured against the vagaries of price instability in the market. It provides security to farmers from the risk of crop failure and less production.
  2. Informed decision making: MSP are announced at the beginning of the sowing season, this helps farmers make informed decisions on the crops they must plant. This advance information helps the farmer to make an informed decision about which crop to sow for maximum economic benefit within the limitations of his farm size, climate and irrigation facilities.
  3. Diversification of crops: The MSP announced by the Government of India for the first time in 1966-67 for wheat has been extended to around 24 crops at the present. This has encouraged the farmers to grow these diverse crops to maximise their income.
  4. Benchmark for private buyers: MSP sends a price-signal to market that if merchants don’t offer higher than MSP prices the farmer may not sell them his produce. Thus it acts as an anchor or benchmark for the agro-commodity It ensures the market prices will not be drastically lower than MSP.
  5. Targeted crops: MSP is used as a tool to incentivize production of specific food crops which is short in supply. MSP motivates farmers to grow targeted crops and increased production.
  6. Enhance purchasing power: Slow farm growth and increasing farmer’s distress demand for more MSP for farmers. It helps in enhancing the purchasing capacity of farmers.

Various Committees on Minimum Support Price (MSP)

  • The Agricultural Prices Commission (APC) was founded in 1965 with the purpose of recommending MSPs for agricultural commodities. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) was later given its new name. For 23 different crops, including wheat, rice, pulses, oilseeds, and cotton, the CACP suggests MSPs.
  • National Commission on Farmers (NCF): The NCF was established in 2004 under the leadership of M.S Swaminatha, to address the problems of farmers and recommend policies for their welfare. The NCF recommended a minimum of 50% profit over the cost of production as MSP.
  • Shanta Kumar Committee: The Shanta Kumar Committee was set up in 2014 to review the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and suggest reforms. The committee recommended a shift from price-based to income-based support for farmers.

Various issues associated with Minimum Support Price:

  1. Non-proportional increase: The support prices that are being provided do not increase at par with increase in cost of production. A rating agency, CRISIL pointed out that the increase in MSP has indeed fallen during 2014-17.
  2. Reach: The benefits of this scheme do not reach all farmers and for all crops. Not all farmers have been able to get the benefits of MSP because of lack of awareness. There are many regions of the country like the north-eastern region where the implementation is too weak.
  3. Excess storage: MSP without sufficient storage has resulted in huge piling of stocks in the warehouses. The stock has now become double the requirements under the schemes of PDS, Buffer stock etc.
  4. Market distortion: It distorts the free market by favouring some particular crops over other crops.
  5. Fiscal burden: Open-ended procurement of paddy and wheat at MSPs is completely out of sync with market prices and lead to fiscal burden.
  6. Impact agricultural exports: Hikes in MSP also adversely affect the exports by making Indian farm goods un-competitive especially when international market prices are lower.
  7. Ecological problem: MSP leads to non-scientific agricultural practices whereby the soil, water are stressed to an extent of degrading ground water table and salinization of soil.
  8. Crop diversity: MSP affects the crop diversity of india. With MSP cropping patterns get affected as it leads to production of MSP supported crops as it guarantee returns.

Determination of MSP

In formulating the recommendations in respect of the level of minimum support prices and other non-price measures, the Commission takes into account, apart from a comprehensive view of the entire structure of the economy of a particular commodity or group of commodities, the following factors:-

  • Cost of production
  • Changes in input prices
  • Input-output price parity
  • Trends in market prices
  • Demand and supply
  • Inter-crop price parity
  • Effect on industrial cost structure
  • Effect on cost of living
  • Effect on general price level
  • International price situation
  • Parity between prices paid and prices received by the farmers.
  • Effect on issue prices and implications for subsidy

The Commission makes use of both micro-level data and aggregates at the level of district, state and the country. The information/data used by the Commission, inter-alia include the following :-

  • Cost of cultivation per hectare and structure of costs in various regions of the country and changes there in;
  • Cost of production per quintal in various regions of the country and changes therein;
  • Prices of various inputs and changes therein;
  • Market prices of products and changes therein;
  • Prices of commodities sold by the farmers and of those purchased by them and changes therein;
  • Supply related information - area, yield and production, imports, exports and domestic availability and stocks with the Government/public agencies or industry;
  • Demand related information - total and per capita consumption, trends and capacity of the processing industry;
  • Prices in the international market and changes therein, demand and supply situation in the world market;
  • Prices of the derivatives of the farm products such as sugar, jaggery, jute goods, edible/non-edible oils and cotton yarn and changes therein;
  • Cost of processing of agricultural products and changes therein;
  • Cost of marketing - storage, transportation, processing, marketing services, taxes/fees and margins retained by market functionaries; and
  • Macro-economic variables such as general level of prices, consumer price indices and those reflecting monetary and fiscal factors.

The increase in MSP for Kharif Crops is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the All-India weighted average Cost of Production (CoP), aiming at reasonably fair remuneration for the farmers.

  • Cost provided – The MS Swaminathan Commission had recommended C2+50% but the government is providing A2+FL+50%.
  • Calculation of Cost of Production
    • A2 – Actual cost of farming including seeds, fertilisers and hired labour.
    • A2+FL – Includes value of unpaid labour of family workers in addition to A2
    • C2 – Includes the cost of land rentals or interest on invested capital in addition to A2+FL

Recent issue

How Can the Government Provide Legal Guarantee for MSP?

  • Primarily, there are two ways that the government can provide legal guarantee for MSP. Both have severe economic repercussions:
    • First, the Government can declare MSP as the baseline price for the 23 crops in the market. It’ll be a mandate for private players to pay MSP rates, which may lead to price rise.
    • Secondly, the Government itself can buy all 23 crops at MSP.

Consequences of According Legal Stature to MSP

  • A policy paper by NITI Aayog’s agricultural economist Ramesh Chand argues that price level that is not supported by demand and supply cannot be sustained through legal means.
  • The paper noted that segments like horticulture, milk and fishery (where market intervention is nil or very little) showed 4-10% annual growth whereas the growth rate in cereals, where MSP and other interventions are quite high, remained at 1.1% after 2011-12.
  • Higher procurement cost would mean increase in prices of food grains, leading to inflation, which would eventually affect the poor.
  • There also lies practical difficulties in getting the private sector on board for buying at legally guaranteed MSP.
  • The paper cited the example of sugarcane – where the support price (Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)) is the statutory minimum price – and pointed out the accumulation of crores in arrears as private sugar mills could not find FRP for sugarcane matching with sugar prices.

Suggestions

  • Provide Direct Income Support:
    • MSP is a short-term solution. It is not a sustainable solution for all of Indian agriculture.
    • Instead of arbitrarily fixing prices of goods in the market, the more effective way might be to provide direct income support to those who are poor — regardless of whether they are farmers or not.
  • Investment Boost to Infrastructure:
    • Better irrigation facilities, easier access to credit, timely access to power, creating lots of warehouses, and ramping up of extension services including post-harvest marketing.
    • It is when such facilities are provided — either free or at an accessible price point — that the Indian farmer would become less vulnerable.
  • Eliminate Disguised Unemployment in Agriculture sector:
    • The solution to the economic distress of Indian farmers lies outside agriculture. It lies in boosting India’s industrial and services sectors.
    • These are the two sectors that can absorb the excess labour that is engaged at present in extremely unremunerative farm activities and provide them with well-paying jobs.
    • It is only when industries and services sectors grow rapidly for the next couple of decades that India’s farm distress will get alleviated.

Source: vikaspedia

Day and Night Microphysics

GS-III : S&T S&T

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has been issuing alerts with maps from various weather monitoring satellites.

Day and Night Microphysics RGB Imager

  • It is image created by combination of Red, Green and Blue colours.
  • Aim – To study various atmospheric characteristics.
  • Radiometer – A device that measures the properties of radiation by studying the radiation’s interaction with matter.
  • Atmospheric sounders – A devices that measure temperature, humidity and study water vapour as a function of their heights from the ground.
  • Factors determining RGB imager – Solar reflectance and brightness temperature.
  • Applications - It helps in analysis of different cloud types, initial stages of convection, maturing stages of a thunderstorm, identification of snow area, and the detection of fires.
  • It also helps in tracking the formation, evolution and depletion of cyclones and other weather events.

Solar reflectance is a ratio of the amount of solar energy reflected by a surface and the amount of solar energy incident on it.

Brightness temperature is the relationship between the temperature of an object and the corresponding brightness of its surface.

  • Daytime Microphysics (DtMicro) RGB – It is the data formed by combining information about the cloud brightness, cloud particle phase and size, and cloud top temperature.
  • Aim – To distinguish ice from water phase and to monitor the development of convection, fog and low clouds.

Solar Reflectance Recorded by INSAT 3D

Wavelength

Colour beam

Relates to

0.5 µm (visible radiation)

Red colour

Cloud thickness and

amount of cloud water and ice

1.6 µm (shortwave IR radiation)

Green colour

Cloud particle size and phase

10.8 µm (thermal IR radiation)

Blue colour

Temperature

  • ObservationsWater cloud is more reflective than ice cloud and have a stronger red beam, smaller water or ice particles have a higher reflectivity, resulting in a stronger green beam and warm surface corresponds to strong blue beam component.
  • Night microphysics – It is designed for monitoring the evolution of night time fog and stratus clouds.

Colour band

Determining factors

Red

Difference between 2 Thermal IR

Green

Difference between Thermal IR and a middle IR

Blue

Strength of 1 Thermal IR signal

  • Observations – A strong red beam for thick clouds, strong green beam for water clouds with small droplets and a strong blue beam for warm surfaces.

The Kalpana 1 and INSATs 3A, 3D, and 3DR satellites have bolstered India’s weather monitoring and warning services.

Source:

Global Carbon Project (GCP) Report

GS-III : Biodiversity & Environment Biodiversity & Environment

The Global Carbon Project report for 2023 was released during the recent COP28 summit held in Dubai, UAE.

It is a Global Research Project of Future Earth and a research partner of the World Climate Research Programme.

  • Established in – 2001
  • It is prepared every year by a global consortium of scientists.

Aim – To develop a complete picture of the global carbon cycle, including both its biophysical and human dimensions together with the interactions and feedbacks between them.

Focus – On the global biogeochemical cycles which govern 3 greenhouse gases (GHGs) like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), including their natural and human drivers, and opportunities for low carbon pathways.

Significance – It produces Global Carbon Budget annually which provides an in-depth look at the amount of fossil fuels that nations around the world burn and where it ends up.

  • 2023 report – It projects fossil CO2 emissions of 36.8 billion tonnes in 2023, up 1.1% from 2022.
  • Global emissions from coal, oil and gas are all projected to increase with most steep increase from oil.
  • Atmospheric CO2 levels are projected to average 419.3 ppm in 2023, 51% above pre-industrial levels.

In IndiaCO2 emissions will cross 3 gigatons (gt) by the end of 2023, about 8% higher than the figure of 2022.

  • India’s per capita emissions is only about 1.9 tonnes (against a world average of almost 5 tons) and its cumulative emissions is only 3% (as against 25% for US) of the global emissions.

India’s Third National Communication (2023) Report

  • India’s total greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) was 3.1 gt of CO2eq (2019).
  • Almost 76% of GHGs were emitted by the energy sector followed by agriculture and industrial process sectors.
  • About 92% of the CO2 emissions is from the energy sector.
  • Among energy sectors, power generation contributes about 39% in the total CO2 emissions followed by transport and iron and steel.

Source: downtoearth

Global FinTech Forum

GS-II : Government policies and interventions Government policies and interventions

  • On the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, PM interacted with prominent business leaders in the Global FinTech Leadership Forum at GIFT city in Gujarat recently.

The Global Fintech Forum is a space for shareholders, customers, and participants to share experiences and experiment.

Source:

Zero Defect, Zero Effect Scheme

GS-III : Economic Issues MSME

  • Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) is a certification scheme for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
  • The scheme's goal is to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of MSMEs, and to help them become national and international champions.
  • The ZED scheme has 3 levels of certification - Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

The certification is based on parameters such as quality, safety, production, cleanliness, energy, and the environment.

Source:

‘Swayam Siddha’

GS-III : Economic Issues Banking

  • Swayam Siddha is a financial product from the State Bank of India (SBI) that provides loans to women entrepreneurs from Self Help Groups (SHGs).

The loans can be up to 5 lakh rupees.

Source:

Other Related News

28 January,2024
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, also known as Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Day, flagship event of the Ministry of External Affairs is celebrated on January 9 every year. Aim - To mark the contribution and achievements of the overseas Indian community to the development of India.

Ugram

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) lab and a Hyderabd based private firm launched an indigenous assault rifle named Ugram recently. The rifle is weighing less than 4 kg with a 500-meter firing range. It is designed and developed to meet the operational requirements of the

National Sports and Adventure Awards 2023

The National Sports and Adventure Awards were established in 2002 to honor athletes who contribute to sports and continue to promote sports events after retirement. The 2023 awards included Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Awards-2023; Dronacharya Awards-2023; Arjuna Awards-2023; Dhy

Bhitarkanika National Park

Odisha’s Bhitarkanika national park will soon be connected by rail as the proposed Jajpur Road-Dhamra railway line will pass through the park. Location: It is located in Kendrapara district in the state of Odisha. It is India’s second-largest mangrove ecosystem afte

Tenth Schedule of Indian Constitution

News? Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has refused to disqualify 40 MLAs of the Eknath Shinde faction after recognising it as the real Shiv Sena. He also did not disqualify 14 MLAs of the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) group due to technical reasons under the Tenth Schedule.

Isopod 

An international team of marine biologists recently discovered a unique isopod, a form of crustacean, that has been formally identified as a new species of the genus Booralana. Isopods are an order of invertebrates (animals without backbones) that belong to the greater crustacean

Chandaka-Dampara wildlife sanctuary

After relocating deer from Cuttack, the Odisha state government is planning to introduce Sambar and Gaur (bison) in the Chandaka-Dampara wildlife sanctuary. It is located in Khurda district of Odisha represents the north-eastern limits of Eastern Ghats.  It is also a home to a numb

Pulikulam Cattle breed

Interest in indigenous cattle breeds like the Pulikulam is reviving which is famous for a local game called Jalikattu in TamilNadu. It is a popular draught and game breed of Tamil Nadu. The cattle originated from Pulikulam, a village located in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. It

27 January,2024
MSMEs in India

A recent report of CBRE-CREDAI says that Maharastra, TamilNadu and Uttar Pradesh (top 3 States) contribute 40% of registered MSMEs in India. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises are known by the acronym MSME.

Peregrine & Vulcan

The Peregrine lander was built by Pittsburgh-based space robotics firm Astrobotic and aimed to become the first lunar lander constructed by a private company. This is also the first mission to fly under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, where NASA pays private co

Sisal

Sisal is a species of flowering plant native to southern Mexico. Sisal, (Agave sisalana), plant of the family Asparagaceae and its fibre, the most important of the leaf fibre group. The leaves have been used to make twine, cloth, carpets and mezcal, a distilled alcoholic beverage. A

Sports and Adventure Awards 2023

Recently, the President of India presided over a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan to bestow the prestigious National Sports and Adventure Awards 2023.The awards are administered by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India. Major Dhyan Chan

National Sports Day 

12th National Sports Daywas celebrated across India on 29 August.  Why is National Sports Day Celebrated? Objective: To commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. First NSD: August 29, 2012. Significance: Encourages peop

19th Asian Games (of 2022, held in 2023)

The Asian Games is the biggest sports competition in Asia, held once every four years. The symbol for the Asian Games is the rising sun with interlocking rings. It is recognised by the International Olympic Committee. Background and Inauguration: After the Second

World Anti-Doping Report 2022

Doping is the act of consuming artificial and often illegal substances to gain an advantage over others in sporting competitions (For example: anabolic steroids, human growth hormones, stimulants and diuretics). Doping products are often illegally produced, trafficked and distributed. A

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is the pool of funds generated by 5% Universal Service Levy that is charged upon all the telecom fund operators on their Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR). This fund is deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India and is dispatched on the approval of the Indian Par

Toppers

Search By Date

Newsletter Subscription
SMS Alerts

Important Links

UPSC GS Mains Crash Course - RAW Prelims Answer Key 2024