DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 7th October 2024

 Syllabus

• Prelims & Mains – SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Context: Sammy Basso, who was the longest living survivor of the rare genetic disease progeria, has died at the age of 28.

Background: –

• There are only 130 recognised cases of classic progeria worldwide, of which four are in Italy.

What is Progeria?

• Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), is a rare genetic disorder characterized by accelerated aging in children.
• It results from a mutation in the LMNA gene, which produces the lamin A protein, essential for maintaining the structural integrity of cell nuclei.
• The mutation leads to the production of an abnormal form of lamin A, known as progerin, which causes cells to become unstable and age prematurely.

Key Symptoms:

• Rapid aging in early childhood (usually between 1-2 years).
• Physical characteristics: Growth failure, loss of body fat and hair, aged-looking skin, stiffness of joints, and cardiovascular diseases.
• Intellectual development remains normal.
• Life expectancy is approximately 13 to 15 years, primarily due to complications like cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis. Death often occurs from heart attacks or strokes.

Diagnosis and Treatment:

• Diagnosis involves genetic testing for the LMNA mutation.
• No definitive cure, but symptomatic treatments include heart medications, physical therapy, and low-dose aspirin to prevent strokes.
• Lonafarnib, a farnesyltransferase inhibitor, has been approved by the FDA to help manage some symptoms and extend life expectancy.

Research and Advances:

• Research is focused on understanding the mechanism of progerin accumulation and finding treatments to reduce its effects.
• Stem cell research and gene therapy offer potential for future treatments.

Source: Reuters

 Syllabus

• Prelims – ENVIRONMENT

Context: Recently, the Union cabinet approved the proposal of India to become a member country of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) by signing and ratification of the Framework Agreement on the establishment of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA).

Background: –

• The International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) is a global initiative launched by India in April 2023 during the 50th anniversary of Project Tiger.

About International Big Cat Alliance

• The Union cabinet in its meeting held on February 29 approved the establishment of International Big Cat Alliance with Headquarters in India with a one-time budgetary support of ₹150 crore for a period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
• So far four countries have become member of IBCA including India, Nicaragua, Eswatini and Somalia.
• All UN member countries are eligible for becoming the member of IBCA.

Concept and Objectives:

• A multi-country, multi-agency coalition of big cat range and non-range countries, conservation partners, scientific organizations, business groups, and corporates.
• Aims to establish networks, synergies, and a centralized repository of best practices, personnel, and financial resources to strengthen big cat conservation efforts.
• Focused on arresting the decline of big cat populations and reversing the trend.

Mission:

• Foster mutual cooperation among countries for big cat conservation.
• Support knowledge sharing, capacity building, networking, advocacy, finance, and research.
• Integrate big cat conservation with sustainable development and climate resilience.

Approach:

• Multipronged Strategy:
  • Broad-based linkages in areas like knowledge sharing, capacity building, research, advocacy, and technical support.
  • Education and awareness campaigns targeting youth and local communities.
  • Use big cats as symbols for sustainable development and livelihood security.
• Synergies and Partnerships:
  • Collaborative platform for sharing gold-standard conservation practices.
  • Access to centralized technical know-how and financial resources.
  • Strengthen species-specific transnational initiatives on conservation.
  • Align biodiversity policies with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Sectoral Integration:
  • Promote biodiversity integration into agriculture, forestry, tourism, and infrastructure.
  • Support sustainable land-use practices, habitat restoration, and ecosystem-based conservation approaches.
  • Contribute to climate change mitigation, food security, clean water, and poverty reduction.

Governance Structure:

• Assembly of Members, Standing Committee, and Secretariat.
• Governance framework modeled on the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• Director General (DG) appointed by MoEFCC as Interim Head, until formal appointment during IBCA Assembly.

Source: Indian Express

 Syllabus

• Prelims & Mains – ECONOMY

Context: India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant’s call for reforms in India’s insolvency resolution framework to cut delays and boost creditor recovery is latest in the growing chorus for making the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) more effective.

Background: –

• In the recent past, various stakeholders, including RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance, also flagged concerns and the need to rethink the IBC’s design.

Reforms in India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) – Key Issues and Recommendations

• Introduced in 2016, the IBC aimed to rescue and reorganize distressed companies through a time-bound process, prioritizing their survival as going concerns.
• Despite fostering credit discipline, the IBC is facing delays, high case backlog, and steep haircuts for creditors, affecting its efficiency.

Delays in Resolution Process:

• Average time for resolution at NCLT increased to 716 days in FY24 (up from 654 days in FY23), against the prescribed timeline of 330 days.
• The Standing Committee on Finance (Feb 2024) highlighted delays in admission and their impact on the value of stressed assets.
• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das flagged admission delays, citing an average time of 468 days (FY21) and 650 days (FY22), eroding asset value.
• Impact of Delays on Debt Recovery:
  • Inverse relationship between resolution time and recovery rate:
    • Resolved within 330 days: 49.2% recovery of admitted claims.
    • Resolved in 330–600 days: 36% recovery.
    • Resolved after 600 days: 26.1% recovery.
  • Delays push cases towards liquidation, with 44% of closed cases ending in liquidation by March 31, 2024.

Steep Haircuts for Creditors:

• Ravi Mital, IBBI Chairperson, noted that creditors often approach IBC too late, with cases already losing over 50% of their value before admission.
• 84% recovery is possible when measured against the fair value, but delays reduce this figure significantly.

Legal and Procedural Challenges:

• The NCLT often takes months to admit cases despite a 14-day timeline stipulated by law.
• The Supreme Court (2022) ruled that the 14-day timeline for admission is procedural, granting NCLT discretion to consider circumstances beyond just the default. This leads to further delays and uncertainty in the process.

Key Concerns and Recommendations:

• Need for second-generation reforms to address procedural delays, personnel shortages, and bottlenecks in judicial infrastructure.
• Clarification of key legal principles, particularly regarding the Committee of Creditors’ (CoC) commercial judgment and priority of claims.
• Focus on timely case admission to prevent value erosion and ensure IBC serves its purpose of reorganization rather than liquidation.

Source: Indian Express

 Syllabus

• Prelims – ENVIRONMENT

Context: National Wildlife Week is celebrated from October 2 to October 8. Big cats have drawn attention in India as government is steering ahead with multiple initiatives like cheetah reintroduction and big cat alliance.

Background:

• India is home to five of the seven big cats: the tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, and cheetah, except for the puma and jaguar.

Tiger (Panthera Tigris)

• Panthera tigris tigris, the continental tiger, and Panthera tigris sondaica, the Sunda tiger, are the two recognised subspecies of tigers.
• According to the fifth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2022 summary report, India is home to about 3,167 tigers, accounting for more than 70 per cent of the world’s wild tigers.
• Steps taken towards conservation
  • Indian Board for Wild Life (IBWL)
  • Project Tiger: It was a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 1973.
  • The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) were established as statutory agencies after the amendments in the Wildlife (Protection) Act in 2006.
  • International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA)

Lion (Panthera Leo)

• Most sociable when compared to other big cat species, they are found in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, a tiny population of Asiatic lions in India’s Gir National Park, and a severely endangered subpopulation in West Africa.
• Because of their remarkable adaptability, lions can live in a broad range of environments, such as semi-arid desert regions, dense shrubbery, dry forests, and floodplains. They usually like open savannas since it is simpler for them to stalk their prey there.
• August 10 is World Lion Day — an annual event started by Big Cat Rescue, the largest accredited big cat sanctuary in the world.
• Conservation efforts
  • Project Lion: It was announced on August 15, 2020, ‘Project Lion’ is a pivotal initiative aimed at securing the future of Asiatic lions through comprehensive, long-term conservation efforts. The project focuses on creating and maintaining a sustainable environment where lions can survive.
  • Greater Gir Concept: The concept involves developing additional habitats for lions beyond Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. There are various other wildlife sanctuaries suitable for lions like Girnar, Pania, and Mitiyala.

Leopard (Panthera Pardus)

• There are nine species of leopards, which are found in both Asia and Africa.
• The leopard, the smallest of the big cats, is well known for its ability to adapt to a variety of settings. This species is a nocturnal mammal, they can hunt at night.
• The leopard is not among the species for whom a “species-specific conservation program” has been defined because there is no evidence that the species is at risk of going extinct in the country.
• The “Status of Leopards in India, 2022” report states that there were 13784 leopards in India in 2022 compared to 12,852 in 2018.
• According to the report, Central India and Eastern Ghats have the highest population of leopards (8,820), followed by the Western Ghats (3,596), and the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains (1,109). The maximum population of leopards is found in Madhya Pradesh (3907) followed by Maharashtra (1985), and Karnataka (1879).

Snow leopard (Panthera uncia)

• Known as “Ghost of the Mountains”, they can climb steep hills while their rear legs help them to leap over six times of their own length of the body. They have a long tail which helps them in balancing their body.
• The mountainous regions of twelve Asian countries—Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—make up the habitat range of the snow leopard.
• Snow Leopards are found in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

• Cheetahs can walk with a long stride because of their long, slender limbs, solid foot pads, and flexible spine. They have a body specially designed to enable them to achieve peak speeds. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds, making it the only cat without retractable claws.
• They have quirky eyesight which helps them to find prey in the daytime. The species prefer grasslands found in Asia and Africa.
• The Indian government officially declared the cheetah extinct in 1952. Earlier in 2022, the Government of India decided to introduce the Cheetah, the only large carnivore species that went extinct in Independent India.
• The re-introduction of the African Cheetahs was done to Kuno National Park and later Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. Both are situated in Madhya Pradesh. The landscape of these sanctuaries looks like Maasai Mara, a reserve known for its savanna wilderness in Africa.

Black panthers (Panthera Pardus)

• Black panthers are “melanistic” members of the Panthera genus rather than being a separate species. Panthera also includes lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, and snow leopards.
• Melanism is defined as the occurrence of individuals that are darker in pigmentation. There can be two reasons behind it: polymorphisms within species or consistent variation between closely related species. This melanism provides superior camouflage only in the densest and darkest forests.

Jaguar and Puma

• These big cats are not native to India and are mainly found in the region of South America.
• Jaguars are distinguished swimmers, they are the largest cat in South America.
• WWF has been tracking the populations of the Jaguars in the Napo-Putumayo Corridor, a forest spanning through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
• Puma (Puma concolor), sometimes referred to as a mountain lion, cougar, or panther, is the biggest of the “small cats.”
• They can be found in woods, prairies, wetlands, and deserts, among other types of environments. These mountain lions prefer to live in isolation which does not mean that they do not communicate with each other.

Source: Indian Express

 Syllabus

• Prelims & Mains – ENVIRONMENT

Context: The Maharashtra government has issued a GR (Government Resolution) allocating 255 acres of salt pan land, distributed over three land parcels in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs, for the construction of rental houses in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project through a lease agreement.

Background: –

• The decision has caused concern among environmentalists and urban planners.

What are salt pans?

• Salt pan lands are ecologically important salt marshlands. They are low-lying areas around the shore that are used for salt cultivation. They act as holding ponds and work as a sponge for the absorption of rain.
• They are a coastal area’s natural defence against flooding. They help intertidal activity, and are home to diverse flora and fauna.

What does the decision entail?

• The government has allocated 255 acres of salt pan land distributed over three land parcels — to Dharavi residents.
• The land parcels allocated are under the ownership of the Central government. After the Maharashtra government sought these parcels from the Centre, the Union Cabinet approved the proposal in September 2024.

What are the terms for allocation of land?

• Four conditions have been put forth for the allocation of the land which will be given at a concessional rate of 25% of the prevailing rate.
  • The State government will collect the land revenue from the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Limited (DRPPL), the special purpose vehicle (SPV), and pay it to the Central government.
  • The DRPPL will bear the cost of resettlement of the labourers working on the land, and other incidental costs for the acquisition of the land. The DRPPL is an SPV in which an Adani Group entity holds 80% stake and the State government has a 20% stake.
  • The land will be used for rental housing, slum rehabilitation, and affordable housing for economically weaker sections.
  • The land will be leased to the Maharashtra government for a period of 99 years, and it cannot be used for commercial activities.

What are the concerns?

• Impact assessment study needs to be done before opening up large packs of land for intensive activities like housing.
• The most important demand with respect to the Dharavi project has been for in-situ rehabilitation. Urban planners point out that handing over land parcels in different parts of the city for a developer will lead to formation of ghettos.

What lies ahead?

• The Centre will hand over the land to the State government, which will give permission to DRPPL to go ahead with the construction after their plans are approved.
• For that, the DRPPL will have to seek an approval from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Environmentalists claim that the entire process from here on can be challenged in the court of law.

Source: The Hindu

Q1.) With reference to the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), consider the following statements:

1. The headquarters of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) is located in India.
2. All UN member countries are eligible to become members of the IBCA.
3. The IBCA governance framework is modeled on the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
4. The IBCA aims to focus solely on tiger conservation.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 4 only
c) 1, 2, and 3 only
d) 1, 3, and 4 only

Q2.) Which of the following statements regarding big cats in India is/are correct?

1. India is home to five of the seven big cats: tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, and cheetah.
2. The leopard is part of a species-specific conservation program in India due to its endangered status.
3. The snow leopard is commonly found in the Shivalik Hills of Northern India.
4. The reintroduction of African cheetahs was done at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1 and 4 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1, 3, and 4 only
d) 1, 2, and 4 only

Q3.) Which of the following statements regarding Progeria is/are correct?

1. Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), is caused by a mutation in the LMNA gene.
2. Intellectual development in children with Progeria is severely impaired.
3. Lonafarnib, a farnesyltransferase inhibitor, has been approved to manage some symptoms of Progeria and extend life expectancy.
4. Progeria primarily affects life expectancy due to complications like cardiovascular diseases.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1, 2, and 3 only
b) 1, 3, and 4 only
c) 2 and 4 only
d) 1, 2, 3, and 4

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

ANSWERS FOR ’  7th October 2024 – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs

Q.1) –  a

Q.2) – c

Q.3) – a