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[DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS, 20, MARCH 2023]

HOMI J BABHA

 
1. Context
The SonyLiv series ‘Rocket Boys’, which focuses on the lives of Indian scientists Homi J Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai and their roles in creating landmark scientific programmes and institutions in a newly-independent India, premiered its second season on March 16
2. Early Life and Education
  • Homi Jehangir Bhabha was born on October 30, 1909, to a wealthy Parsi family from Mumbai, His grandfather was the Inspector General of Education in the State of Mysore
  • Bhabha’s father Jehangir Hormusji Bhabha was educated at Oxford and later qualified as a lawyer
  • His mother Meherbai was the granddaughter of Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, a textile factory owner in Bombay who was known for his philanthropic efforts
  • Bhabha attended schools in Mumbai, joining Elphinstone College and then the Royal Institute of Science in the city
  • In 1927, Bhabha attended the Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge
  • Both his uncle Sir Dorab J. Tata – the son of Tata group’s founder Jamsetji Tata – and his father wanted Bhabha to become an engineer and work at the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur.
  • At Cambridge, he was taught by Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, a Mathematics professor who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933 with Erwin Schrodinger for their work in quantum theory
  • Bhabha went on to receive various scholarships. His work centred around cosmic rays and he earned a PhD in nuclear physics in 1934
3. Homi J baba's work in India
  • Bhabha came to India in 1939 for some time, but his plans to return to England for his academic work were halted because of the Second World War’s onset
  •  In 1940, he joined the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, where a Readership in Theoretical Physics was specially created for him
  • Future Nobel laureate CV Raman was then the Director of the Institute, He was made a Professor in 1944
  • Vikram Sarabhai also spent a short period at the Institute when Bhabha was there
  • When Bhabha was working at the IISc, higher-level facilities for research on Physics were limited in India
  • When Bhabha was working at the IISc, higher-level facilities for research on Physics were limited in India. In March 1944, he wrote to the Sir Dorab J. Tata Trust for establishing “a vigorous school of research in fundamental physics”
  • The trustees accepted Bhabha’s proposal the Institute began work in April 1944.
  • Mumbai was chosen as the location as the Government of Bombay showed interest in becoming a joint founder of the proposed institute. The institute, named Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), was inaugurated in 1945
  • The present building of the Institute was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in January 1962. Nehru, with whom Bhabha also had a personal friendship, earlier laid its foundation stone in 1954
  • The Institute received financial support from the Government of India from its second year, through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Ministry of Natural Research and Scientific Research
4. Growth of institutions and Nuclear energy
  • Bhabha was instrumental in picking the people associated with the institute and giving them opportunities to grow
  • This was also seen in his passion for the development of nuclear energy in India as a field of study
  • On April 26, 1948, he sent a note on a new ‘Organisation of Atomic Research in India’ to Nehru, writing: “The development of atomic energy should be entrusted to a very small and high-powered body composed of say, three people with executive power, and answerable directly to the Prime Minister without any intervening link.”
  • He also detailed the structure of such a body and its functioning
  • The Government of India accepted Bhabha’s proposal within a few months after its submission and with the promulgation of the Indian Atomic Energy Act 1948, the Atomic Energy Commission was formed in August 1948
  • Later in 1954, he led efforts to establish the Atomic Energy Establishment (AEET) in Trombay, Maharashtra, for a multidisciplinary research program
  • Throughout his life, Bhabha noted the importance of developing opportunities for science to flourish in India
  • In an address to the Assembly of the Council of Scientific Unions in 1966, Bhabha said, “It is interesting to note that practically all the ancient civilizations of the world, Persia, Egypt, India, and China, were in countries which are today underdeveloped… The developed countries and the underdeveloped countries lack modern science and an economy based on modern technology.”
  • Homi Bhabha died in a plane crash on the way to Geneva on January 24, 1966, and to date, theories surround its circumstances
  • AEET was later renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to mark his role in spearheading the institution’s growth. Bhabha had also served as the head of India’s nuclear program until his death.
 
 
Source:indianexpress

RACCOON DOGS

1. Context 

A new analysis of genetic data collected from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, has linked coronavirus to raccoon dogs, adding evidence to the belief that the pandemic might have originated from the infected animals sold at the site.

2. Key points

  • World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "These data do not provide a definitive answer to how the pandemic began, but every piece of data is important to moving us closer to that answer".
  • The genetic data was gathered from swabs taken from in and around the market back in January 2020, shortly after the Chinese government had shut down the market because of suspicions that it was linked to the outbreak of a new virus.
  • A previous analysis of the same data was published last year, showing that it contained both Covid and Human DNA. 
  • Moreover, Chinese researchers at the time denied that the samples consisted of any animal DNA.
  • The new findings have proved them wrong and revealed that the Covidpositive samples were rich in DNA from raccoon dogs.
  • However, they don't prove that these animals or any other animals were responsible for triggering the pandemic.

3. About Raccoon dogs

  • Raccoon dogs are neither dogs nor raccoons. They belong to the canid family and are closely related to foxes.
  • They are the only canids that hibernate during the winter. As per Slate, there are two species of raccoon dogs:
  1. Nyctereutes procyonoides, the common raccoon dog (the Species that was in the Wuhan market) and
  2. Nyctereutes p. viverrinus, the Japanese raccoon dog.
  • These animals, weighing around 16 pounds on average are omnivores and relish food sources such as rodents and berries.
  • Although they appear svelte in the summer, they pack on the pounds for winter, when their fur also becomes thicker. They are monogamous, often living in pairs.
Image source: Sky News

4. Where are raccoon dogs are found?

  • Raccoon dogs are originally from East Asia and are commonly found in parts of China, Korea and Japan, where they are known as tanuki.
  • They are also found in Europe, fur traders first brought them in the 1920s.
  • Today, raccoon dogs are considered to be a threat to the local ecosystem in Europe and an EU report declared them "one of the most successful alien carnivores in Europe".
  • However, in Japan, tanuki is revered. In folklore, tanuki is funloving tricksters who could shape-shift and are often associated with good financial luck.
  • They are often depicted with giant scrotums that they can expand and shape into useful objects such as umbrellas and fishing nets.

5. Reasons for raccoon dogs being sold in Wuhan

  • For decades, these animals have been farmed for their fur. 
  • Every year, according to the Humane Society of the United States, millions are killed in China, a leading producer of raccoon dog pelts and the US buys a huge share of the products.
  • To meet this huge demand, sellers raise raccoon dogs in small and crowded facilities while transporting them in small cages, often stacked with those of other animals.
  • This serves as a perfect breeding ground for the spread of different diseases.

6. Raccoon dogs linked to other diseases 

  • Raccoon dogs and related mammals sold for food at a live animal market in China in 2003 were found to carry a coronavirus similar to the virus found in humans during a SARS Coronavirus outbreak at the time.
  • A 2022 study after taking samples from about 2, 000 animals of 18 different species in China found that wild animals known to be consumed by humans, including raccoon dogs, carried 102 different viruses from 13 viral families 21 of which posted a high-risk to humans.
  • It also added that raccoon dogs specifically carried four canine coronaviruses that were genetically similar to those found in humans.
  • But this does not mean they are the natural reservoir for coronaviruses.
  • Scientists believe there is a possibility the tested raccoon dogs, including those in the Wuhan market, might have picked up the virus from bats or another species.

For Prelims & Mains

For Prelims: Coronavirus, WHO, China, Wuhan market, Raccoon dogs, fur trade, 
For Mains: 
1. What are Raccoon dogs and discuss how they are linked with the origins of the covid 19 pandemic. (250 Words)

Previous year questions

1. In the context of vaccines manufactured to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, consider the following statements: (UPSC 2022)
1. The Serum Institute of India produced COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield using mRNA platform.
2. Sputnik V vaccine is manufactured using vector-based platform.
3. COVAXIN is an inactivated pathogen-based vaccine.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
 
Answer: B
Explanation 
The covishield vaccine is based on the platform which uses a recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector encoding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein. The Serum Institute of India produced a COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield but not using mRNA platform.
 
Source: The Indian Express

INDIA'S SUGAR EXPORTS

 
1.Context

Building export markets takes effort. Overseas buyers need to be convinced about the price competitiveness, product quality, and reliability of supplies from the exporting country.

One not-so-talked-about success story in recent years is of sugar exports from India. Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, these have soared from $810.9 million to $4.6 billion and could cross $5.5 billion  or Rs 45,000 crore  in the fiscal year ending March 31

2.Grades of Sugar

  • Raw sugar is what mills produce after the first crystallisation of juice obtained from crushing of cane
  • This sugar is rough and brownish in colour, with an ICUMSA value of 600-1,200 or higher
  • ICUMSA, short for the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis, is a measure of the purity of sugar based on colour

  • Raw sugar is processed in refineries for removal of impurities and de-colourisation. The end product is refined white cane sugar having a standard ICUMSA value of 45
  • The sugar used by industries such as pharmaceuticals has ICUMSA of less than 20
  • Till 2017-18, India hardly exported any raw sugar. It mainly shipped plantation white sugar with 100-150 ICUMSA value
  • This was referred to as low-quality whites or LQW in international markets

3. From refined to raw

  • There was a mission started around 2018  to promote exports of raw sugar from India. This was especially in view of the production glut at home, with closing stocks of sugar, at 105 lt in 2017-18, equivalent to five months of domestic consumption
  • Much of the world sugar trade is in ‘raws’ that are transported in bulk vessels of 40,000-70,000 tonnes capacity
  • ‘Whites’, on the other hand, are usually packed in 50-kg polypropylene bags and shipped in 12,500-27,000-tonne container cargoes over shorter distances
  • Raw sugar requires no bagging or containerisation and can be loaded in bulk; the buyer here is the refiner, not the end-consumer

4. India's raw Advantage

  • Apart from the time window and freight cost savings, the delegation highlighted two specific advantages of Indian raw sugar.
  • First, it is free of dextran, a bacterial compound formed when sugarcane stays in the sun for too long after harvesting
  • Our raw sugar has no dextran, as it is produced from fresh cane crushed within 12-24 hours of harvesting
  • Second, Indian mills could supply raws with a very high polarisation of 98.5-99.5%. Polarisation is the percentage of sucrose present in a raw sugar mass
  • The more the polarisation  it is only 96-98.5% in raws from Brazil, Thailand and Australia  the easier and cheaper it is to refine
  • The efforts to push exports of raws got a further boost when Indonesia, in December 2019, agreed to tweak its ICUMSA norms to enable imports from India
  • The Southeast Asian nation previously imported only raw sugar of 1,200 ICUMSA or more, largely from Thailand
  • Those levels were brought down to 600-1,200 to allow its refiners to process higher purity raws from India
  • Out of India’s total 110 lt sugar exports in 2021-22, raws alone accounted for 56.29 lt
The biggest importers of Indian raw sugar were Indonesia (16.73 lt), Bangladesh (12.10 lt), Saudi Arabia (6.83 lt), Iraq (4.78 lt) and Malaysia (4.15 lt). The country also exported 53.71 lt of white/ refined sugar, the leading destinations for which included Afghanistan (7.54 lt), Somalia (5.17 lt), Djibouti (4.90 lt), Sri Lanka (4.27 lt), China (2.58 lt), and Sudan (1.08 lt)

 

Previous year Questions:
1. With reference to the International trade of India at present, Which of the following statements is/ are correct (UPSC 2020)
1. India's merchandise exports are lesser than India's merchandise Imports
2. India's Imports of iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizers, and machinery have decreased in recent years
3. India's exports of services are more than its imports of services
4. India suffers from an overall trade/current deficit
Select the correct code from the following 
A. 1 and 2 only          B. 2 and 4 only                 C. 3 Only                  D. 1, 3 and 4
Answer (D)
From April 2019 to January 2020, the export of dyes increased by 9.12% y- o- y US$ 2.27 billion . Cosmetics and toileteries increased by 5.62% , So Statement 2 is incorrect

 

Source: indianexpress

 

LATE LIFE DEPRESSION

 

1. Context

Late­life depression (LLD) is caused by multiple factors working together. It has three broad risk factors biological, psychological, and social. 

2. What is Late-Life Depression?

Late-life depression (LLD) can be defined as depression that occurs after the age of 60 years, although the onset and definition of a cutoff may vary. There are many subtypes of depressive illness that are the same in both younger and older adults. The focus of this article is on unipolar depressive disorders.
Geriatric depression has three risk factors biological, psychological, and social.

3. Biological Risk Factors

  • Scientists have yet to identify a candidate biomarker, a biological molecule in blood, body fluids, or other tissues, a sign of a disease process for LLD.
  • On the other hand, studies have found some evidence of a genetic contribution to LLD.
  • Scientists have also advanced several hypotheses involving the genes that code for serotonin synthesis, norepinephrine transporter, and the neurotrophic factor, but these ideas require more tests.
  • A subset of LLD, called vascular depression, may be associated with cerebrovascular lesions.
  • Stress that accumulates over one’s life leads to a sustained secretion of cortisol, the hormone that regulates the body’s stress response.
  • Increased cortisol levels lead to the loss of brain cells in the hippocampus, which is implicated in memory and learning.
  • Heart attacks and heart conditions often lead to LLD, as do diabetes and hip fracture.
  • Depressive symptoms can also manifest if a person doesn’t recover from physical illnesses optimally.

4. Psychological risk factors

  • Personality attributes may color the origin and expression of depressive symptoms in older adults.
  • Neuroticism is the personality disposition to experience negative emotions, anger, irritability, and emotional instability is consistently implicated in LLD.
  • Depressed individuals may overreact to life events or misinterpret them. Recent adverse life events (loss of a job, bereavement, etc.) are more frequently reported among depressed elderly people than among nondepressed older adults.
  • The locus of control refers to the degree to which an individual feels a sense of agency in their life.
  • A person with an external locus of control will feel that external forces- such as random chance, environmental factors, or the actions of others are more responsible for the events that occur in their own life.

5. Social Risk Factors

  • Lower socioeconomic status has been associated with depression across the life cycle.
  • The construct of social support includes perception, the structure of the social network, and the tangible help and assistance available.
  • Perceived social support is the most robust predictor of LLD symptoms.

6. Clinical assessment of depression

  • Clinical assessment involves evaluating the duration of the current episode; screening for previous depressive episodes; ruling out substance misuse; looking at the course of previous episodes, if any; ascertaining the response to previous interventions, and looking at a family history of depression and/or suicide.
  • Assessing the cognitive status of the individual is critical to evaluate depressed older patients. This is aided by the use of screening scales such as the Mini Mental­ State Examination.
  • No assessment is complete without a thorough physical examination of all the other systems as well.
  • Frequently, physicians order tests involving the thyroid and metabolic panel, vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D levels, and some other biochemistries.
  • Physicians also often order a brain scan for LLD. This is to rule out other possible pathologies (such as stroke or tumour), which may present with a clinical picture of depression.
  • The physician may also order an electrocardiogram before medication.

7. Treatment of Late Life Depression

  • Experts generally take a four­pronged approach to treating geriatric depression, involving psychotherapy, medications, brain stimulation, and family therapy.
  • Talking therapies, such as cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), help to identify maladaptive thought patterns, and then restructure these patterns to help the depressed individual cope and feel better.
  • Maladaptive cognitions, such as “I am useless” or “It’s all going to go wrong”, are subject to empirical examination. The therapist will seek evidence in support of these ideas and alternative ways to view one’s own life.
  • The individual may also be asked to keep a diary of activities, to set goals, and to try doing things that they fear.
  • This is often accompanied by encouraging the individual to write down their goals and to track their progress.
  • Typically, there will be six to 20 CBT sessions, with each session lasting for 30­60 minutes. There is some evidence to suggest that the long­term benefits of CBT could equal that of drug therapy.
  • A range of safe and effective drugs are available to treat geriatric depression when combined with talk therapy, the efficacy of either of the interventions increases.
  • A common dictum in prescribing medications to older adults is to 'start low and go slow'.
  • Antidepressants are often asked to be taken for six to nine months after the remission of a depressive episode. Contrary to popular belief, these drugs are not addictive, and patients can be safely weaned off them once the course is complete.
  • Neurostimulation modalities such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are used to treat severe forms of depression, suicidality, and psychotic depression (characterized by delusions and hallucinations).
  • ECT continues to be the most effective treatment for people with severe major depressive episodes.

Previous year Question

1. Choose the incorrect statement. (MPSC 2018)
a. World Mental Health Day is observed on 10th October every year.
b. The theme of 2017 World Mental Health Day was 'Mental Health at the Workplace'.
c. The World Health Day is celebrated on April 7th every year.
d. The theme of 2017 World Health Day was 'Depression'.
A. b                               B. d                              C.c                           D. None of the above
Answer: D

For Prelims & Mains

For Prelims: Late-life depression (LLD), Neuroticism, Metabolic panel, vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D, Electrocardiogram, Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
For Mains: 1. What is Late-Life Depression? Discuss the three risk factors of Geriatric depression.
Source: The Hindu

GENERATIVE AI

 

1. Context

Generative artificial intelligence has become a buzzword this year, capturing the public’s fancy and sparking a rush among Microsoft and Alphabet to launch products with the technology they believe will change the nature of work.

2. What is Generative AI?

  • Generative AI is a rapidly growing branch of AI that focuses on generating new content (such as images, audio, text, etc.) based on patterns and rules learned from data.
  • The rise of GAI can be attributed to the development of advanced generative models, such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Variational Autoencoders (VAEs).
  • These models are trained on large amounts of data and are able to generate new outputs that are similar to the training data. For example, a GAN trained on images of faces can generate new, synthetic images of faces that look realistic.
  • The most famous generative AI application is ChatGPT, a chatbot that Microsoftbacked OpenAI released last year. The AI powering it is known as a large language model because it takes in a prompt and from that writes a human-like response.

3. Applications of Generative AI

  • Create realistic images and animations. Text-to-image programs such as Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion have the potential to change how art, animation, gaming, movies, and architecture, among others, are being rendered.
  • Generative AI can be used to compose music and create art.
  • Create brand logo: E.g. many startups are exploring services like DALL.E2, Bing Image Create, Stable Diffusion, and MidJourney to create their brand logo.
  • Generate text messages. ChatGPT to generate news articles, poetry, and even code. AI-assisted drug discovery.
  • Generative AI can be used to design and control robotic systems.
  • Automate things e.g. Microsoft-owned GitHub Copilot, which is based on OpenAI’s Codex model, suggests code and assists developers in autocompleting their programming tasks.
  • The technology is helpful for creating a first draft of marketing copy, for instance, though it may require cleanup because it isn’t perfect. One example is from CarMax Inc, which has used a version of OpenAI’s technology to summarize thousands of customer reviews and help shoppers decide what used car to buy.

4. Concerns about Generative AI

  • School systems have fretted about students turning in AI-drafted essays, undermining the hard work required for them to learn.
  • Cybersecurity researchers have also expressed concern that generative AI could allow bad actors, even governments, to produce far more disinformation than before.
  • It will have a profound effect on jobs as automation will replace humans, especially in the creative industry.
  • Large parts of the creative workforce, including commercial artists working in entertainment, video games, advertising, and publishing, could lose their jobs because of generative AI models.
  • Artists are worried that the internet will be flooded with artwork that is indistinguishable from their own, simply by telling the system to reproduce the artwork in a unique style.
  • One of the problems with large language models is their ability to generate false and misleading content.
  • Such capabilities can be misused to generate fake news and disinformation across platforms and ecosystems.

5. Role of Google and Microsoft in Generative AI

  • Those two companies are at the forefront of research and investment in large language models, as well as the biggest to put generative AI into widely used software such as Gmail and Microsoft Word. But they are not alone.
  • Large companies like salesforce Inc as well as smaller ones like Adept AI Labs are either creating their own competing AI or packaging technology from others to give users new powers through software.

6. Involvement of Elon Musk

  • He was one of the co-founders of OpenAI along with Sam Altman. But the billionaire left the startup's board in 2018 to avoid a conflict of interest between openAI's work and the AI research being done by the Tesla Inc-the electric vehicle maker he leads.
  • Musk has expressed concerns about the future of AI and batted for a regulatory authority to ensure the development of the technology serves the public interest.

7. Indian Initiatives

  • National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence: The Government has published the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence with the objective of developing an ecosystem for the research and adoption of Artificial Intelligence.
  • National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems: Under this Mission, Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH) has been established on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, which aims to provide state-of-the-art training and capacity building for the creation of next-generation scientists, engineers, technicians, and technocrats in the field of Artificial Intelligence. 

Previous year Question

1. With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (UPSC 2020)
1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units.
2. Create meaningful short stories and songs.
3. Disease diagnosis.
4. Text-to-Speech Conversion.
5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
A. 1, 2, 3, and 5 only
B. 1, 3, and 4 only
C. 2, 4, and 5 only
D. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Answer: D

For Prelims & Mains

For Prelims: Generative AI, Chat GPT, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), OpenAI technology, National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems and Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH).
For Mains: 1. What is Generative AI? Discuss the Applications and Concerns associated with Generative AI.
 
Source: The Indian Express

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