DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 14th February 2025

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – CURRENT EVENT

Context: India ranked 96 out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2024.

Background: –

• The index ranked Denmark at the top, followed by Finland, and Singapore.

Key takeaways

• The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a global ranking that measures perceived levels of public sector corruption across countries.
• It is published annually by Transparency International, a non-governmental organization based in Germany.
• The index uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is corruption clean. The rank tells the country’s position relative to other countries in the index. 
• The score for each country is derived from a minimum of three data sources, selected from 13 distinct corruption surveys and assessments. These sources are gathered by a range of reputed organisations, such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
• Transparency International gave India a CPI score of 38. In 2023, India’s overall score was 39 while in 2022, it was 40. There is a decline in the score of India on CPI.
• The CPI report has also highlighted that corruption is strongly intertwined with climate change. The funds intended to help those suffering from the consequences of global heating are stolen or misused. Corruption also impacts the implementation of policies aimed at addressing climate change leading to further environmental damage.
• Among India’s neighbors, Bangladesh has received a score of 23, Pakistan 27, and Sri Lanka 32. Bangladesh is one of the largest recipients of climate finance, which is vulnerable to embezzlement and other forms of corruption.

Source: Indian Express

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – POLITY

Context: The Supreme Court is hearing petitions filed by Ashwin Upadhyay and others, seeking a life time ban on convicted persons from contesting elections.

Background: –

• A report by ADR states that 251 (46%) of the 543 elected MPs in 2024, have criminal cases against them, and 171 (31%) face serious criminal charges including rape, murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping. It added that chances of winning for a candidate with a criminal background was 15.4% as against just 4.4% for a candidate with a clean background.

Key takeaways

• Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RP Act, 1951), provides for the disqualification of a person convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years. Such a person is disqualified from contesting elections for a further period of six years from the date of release. 
• Section 8(1) further stipulates that a person convicted under criminal laws for heinous crimes like rape; the Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) act for preaching or practice of untouchability; UAPA for unlawful association; Prevention of Corruption Act etc., will be disqualified irrespective of the period of their sentence and six years after release.

What were past judgements?

• In the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) case (2002), Supreme Court mandated the disclosure of criminal records of all candidates contesting elections. 
• In the CEC vs Jan Chaukidar case (2013), SC upheld the creative interpretation of the provisions of the RP Act, 1951 by the Patna HC. One of the qualifications as per the act to contest elections is that a person should be an ‘elector.’ Section 62(5) stipulates that a person in jail is not eligible to vote in elections. The court interpreted that persons who are under trial prisoners, therefore cease to be ‘electors’ and hence not qualified to contest elections. However, the Parliament amended the act in 2013 to overturn this judgment allowing under trial prisoners to contest elections. 
• In Lily Thomas (2013), the SC struck down section 8(4) of the RP Act, 1951, that allowed a sitting legislator to continue as a member even after being convicted if they filed an appeal. After this judgment, a sitting legislator is disqualified immediately after the sentencing for a conviction.

Additional Information

• Section 11 of the RP Act, 1951 provides that the Election Commission (EC) may remove any disqualification or reduce the period of disqualification of a convicted person. 
• EC utilised this power in September 2019, to reduce the disqualification period of Prem Singh Tamang, incumbent Chief Minister of Sikkim, from six years to 13 months which allowed him to contest and win a byelection.

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Context: The WHO’s recent declaration of Georgia as the 45th country to eliminate malaria is a significant milestone.

Background:

• Despite decades of global efforts, malaria still causes over 240 million cases and more than 600,000 deaths annually.

Key takeaways

• Malaria is a life-threatening vector-borne disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
• Causative Agent (Plasmodium Parasites) – There are five species of Plasmodium that cause malaria in humans:
  • Plasmodium falciparum – Most severe, responsible for cerebral malaria.
  • Plasmodium vivax – Causes recurring malaria due to dormant liver stage.
  • Plasmodium malariae – Milder infection, can persist for years.
  • Plasmodium ovale – Rare, found mainly in Africa & Asia.
  • Plasmodium knowlesi – Zoonotic malaria, found in Southeast Asia.
• Transmission Cycle:
  • Infected Anopheles mosquito bites a human.
  • Parasites enter the bloodstream and reach the liver, where they multiply.
  • They re-enter the bloodstream and infect red blood cells (RBCs), causing fever and chills.
  • Some parasites develop into gametocytes, which are taken up by another mosquito, completing the cycle.
• Malaria Distribution & Impact:
  • Endemic in tropical regions, mainly Africa, South Asia, and South America.
  • India: Malaria cases are declining but still prevalent in tribal areas, Northeast, and forested regions.
• Vaccination:
  • RTS,S/AS01 (Mosquirix) – First WHO-approved malaria vaccine (2021).
  • R21/Matrix-M – Another promising vaccine candidate.

Challenges in Developing a Malaria Vaccine & Why It Is Less Effective Compared to Viral Vaccines

• Complex Life Cycle of Plasmodium
  • Unlike viruses, the malaria parasite (Plasmodium) has a highly complex life cycle involving multiple stages: Sporozoite stage (Liver stage) → Merozoite stage (Blood stage) → Gametocyte stage (Mosquito stage).
  • Each stage expresses different antigens, making it difficult to target the parasite with a single vaccine.
• Antigenic Variability & Immune Evasion
  • The malaria parasite has thousands of antigens, while viruses typically have fewer target antigens.
  • Plasmodium can change its surface proteins (antigenic variation) to evade the immune system, making vaccine-induced immunity short-lived.
• Intracellular Nature of the Parasite
  • After infection, malaria parasites hide inside liver and red blood cells, making them inaccessible to antibodies.
• The immune system struggles to detect and eliminate them, unlike viruses, which mostly remain extracellular at some stage.
• Lack of Effective Animal Models
  • Most vaccines are tested in animal models before human trials.
  • Malaria parasites are species-specific, and human malaria does not replicate well in animals, making research challenging.
  • Viral vaccine development benefits from better animal models (e.g., monkeys for polio, mice for influenza).

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – POLITY ; ETHICS

Context: Ranveer Allahbadia, a popular content creator has become the subject of a Mumbai police probe over  obscene comments made during a comedy show.

Background: –

• Mumbai police is yet to register an FIR, but the Assam cops have registered a complaint against Allahbadia and others including charges of ‘obscene acts’ under Section 296 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).

Key takeaways

• Article 19(1)(a): Guarantees the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression.
• Article 19(2): Imposes reasonable restrictions on free speech in the interest of public decency and morality, allowing for laws against obscenity.
• Section 294 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita criminalises the creation and sale of obscene materials, including electronic content. It defines obscenity as material that is ‘lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest’—content that is overtly and excessively sexual—or that has the potential to ‘deprave and corrupt’ those who consume it. First-time offenders face up to two years of imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹5,000.

History of obscenity rulings in India

• The most important ruling on obscenity laws involved Lady Chatterley’s Lover — a book by D H Lawrence, which was considered scandalous for its times due to its depictions of sexual encounters. It faced trials in India and the United Kingdom.
• In 1964, the Supreme Court of India held the book as obscene under Section 292 of the now-overhauled Indian Penal Code (IPC). The top court borrowed from the British case of Queen v. Hicklin (1868) — at which point their legal system adopted the ‘Hicklin test’ to determine if something was obscene or not.
• The court held the work to be obscene if it had the tendency to “deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences.”
• However, the standard for obscenity had changed in the west before the SC pronounced this judgement and the Obscene Publications Act 1959 of UK said that a work must be considered ‘as a whole’ before its likely effect on audiences is mulled upon.
• This case would go on to influence the Indian Supreme Court to adopt ‘community standards’ test to gauge obscenity, as seen in Aveek Sarkar v State of West Bengal (2014).
• The court quashed obscenity proceedings against magazines which carred a photo of Boris Becker — the tennis player — in the nude with his fiancee. The SC held that applying the Hicklin test would result in the work being judged for “obscenity based on isolated passages of a work considered out of context and judged by their apparent influence on most susceptible readers, such as children or weak-minded adults.”

Source: Deccan Herald

Syllabus:

• Prelims – SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Context: The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid space telescope has discovered a rare ring of light, known as an Einstein ring, around a galaxy nearly 590 million light-years away from Earth.

Background: –

• Photos, which were taken by Euclid in September 2023 but released recently, of the Einstein ring show a bright ball of light in the centre with a bright, cloudy ring around it.

Key takeaways

• An Einstein ring is a ring of light around a form of dark matter, galaxy or cluster of galaxies. It is essentially an example of gravitational lensing. 
• Gravitational lensing is a phenomenon which occurs when a massive celestial body — such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies — creates a gravitational field which distorts and amplifies the light from distant galaxies that are behind it but in the same line of sight. The body causing the light to curve is called a gravitational lens.
• Einstein rings are named after Albert Einstein, whose general theory of relativity predicted that light could bend and brighten around objects across the cosmos. The first Einstein ring was discovered in 1987, and since then, several more have been discovered. 
• Einstein rings are not visible to the naked eye, and can be observed only through space telescopes such as Euclid.

Why do scientists study Einstein rings?

• These rings help scientists investigate dark matter, which has never been detected but is believed to make up 85% of the total matter in the universe.
• Dark matter does not interact with light, but it does have a gravitational effect. Gravitational lensing therefore is sensitive to the presence of this dark matter, allowing us to indirectly detect it.
• Moreover, Einstein rings enable scientists to learn about distant galaxies, which otherwise might not be visible. They can also provide information about the expansion of the universe as the space between the Earth and other galaxies — both in the foreground and the background — is stretching, according to NASA.

Source: Indian Express

Q1.) Which of the following statements regarding the Einstein Ring is correct?

1. A) It is caused by the refraction of light from distant galaxies due to interstellar dust.
2. B) It is a phenomenon where light bends around a massive object due to gravity, forming a ring-like structure.
3. C) It occurs due to the scattering of light from dark matter particles.
4. D) It is a type of black hole event horizon that emits visible light.

Q2.) Consider the following statements regarding malaria:

1. It is caused by a bacterial pathogen transmitted by the Culex mosquito.
2. Plasmodium falciparum is the most severe species and can cause cerebral malaria.
3. Malaria vaccines are highly effective because Plasmodium has a simple life cycle.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?
A) 1 and 2 only
B) 2 only
C) 1 and 3 only
D) 1, 2, and 3

Q3.) Which of the following statements regarding the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is correct?

1. A) It is published annually by the World Bank.
2. B) It ranks countries based on real corruption cases and legal convictions.
3. C) A higher CPI score indicates a higher level of corruption in a country.
4. D) India’s ranking in the 2024 CPI report has declined compared to previous years.

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’  Today’s – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs

Q.1) – b

Q.2) – a

Q.3) – d