Daily News Digest 19 Jan 2024

Table of content

• Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023
• GM crops will make edible oil cheaper
• Panama Canal
• Gulf of Aden
• 13% of land mass in Kerala vulnerable to landslides

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023

Why in News?

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 was released recently.

About Annual Status of Education Report

• ASER is a nationwide citizen-led household survey conducted by the Pratham Education Foundation.
• The report of 2023, themed “Beyond Basics”, focused on youth aged 14-18 years in rural India
• It provides valuable insights into the status of education for children in rural India, focusing on both enrolment rates and learning outcomes.

Key highlights of ASER 2023

• Enrollment
  • 86.8% of youth in the age group 14-18 are enrolled in an educational institution.
  • The percentage of youth not enrolled is 3.9% for 14-year-old youth and is 32.6% for 18-year-olds
  • Most young people are enrolled in Arts/Humanities (55.7%) and females are less likely to be enrolled in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics stream than males.
• Basic abilities
  • About 25% in the surveyed age-group still cannot read a Class II level text fluently in their regional language and More than half struggle with division (3-digit by 1-digit) problems.
• Digital literacy
  • Close to 90% of all youth have a smartphone in the household and know how to use it.
  • Of those who can use a smartphone, males (43.7%) are more than twice as likely to have their own smartphone than females (19.8%).
  • However, application based basic digital skills like reading text messages and using navigation apps still need improvement.
• Aspirations
  • Most youth have high aspirations, want to study further and have career goals.
  • Youth are engaged in various activities like further education, work (including household work), and preparation for competitive exams.
  • The difficulties of students in rural areas get compounded because they have to handle academic requirements with responsibilities like working in family farms.
• Vocational training
  • Vocational skilling is not the first choice for youth. Only 6 per cent of the surveyed are currently doing vocational courses.

Suggestions

• The increasing use of smartphones in rural areas is an opportunity to extend education, and design classrooms that are flexible with time and schedules.
• To promote the use of smartphones for education as the use for education today is way less than that for entertainment.
• To re-imagine vocational education (as envisaged by National Education Policy) and make it truly aspirational.
• It emphasises the need for strengthening foundational learning and equipping youth with relevant skills for the changing job market.

GM crops will make edible oil cheaper

Time to Read :🕑 9 Mins

Why in news?

The Supreme Court has reserved its judgement on public interest litigations (PILs) challenging the government's decision to allow the commercial release of the GM mustard variant Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11).

Background

Ban on commercial release of GM crops will be against national interest

• Earlier, in 2017, GEAC had cleared the proposal for commercial cultivation of GM mustard. However, the Union Environment Ministry vetoed it and suggested that the panel hold more studies on the GM crop.
• In October 2022, GEAC again cleared the proposal for commercial cultivation of GM mustard – also known as DMH-11.
• Later, the petitioners, Gene Campaign and activist Aruna Rodrigues, challenged the government move to commercially release DMH-11.

Edible Oil Sector in India

• India is one of the largest producers of oilseeds in the world.
• India is the world’s second-largest consumer and number one importer of vegetable oil ad meets its nearly 55% to 60% of its edible oil demand through imports
• Palm oil (Crude + Refined) constitutes roughly around 62% of the total edible oils imported and are imported mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while Soyabean oil (22%) is imported from Argentina and Brazil and Sunflower oil (15%) is imported mainly from Ukraine and Russia.

Demand for edible oil

• The total edible oil demand of India was 24.6 million tonnes (2020-21) with domestic availability of 11.1 million tonnes (2020-21).
• In 2020-21, 13.45 million tonnes (54%) of the total edible oil demand was met through import worth about ₹1,15,000 crore, which included palm oil (57%), soybean oil (22%), sunflower oil (15%) and small quantity of canola quality mustard oil.
• In 2022-23, 155.33 lakh tonnes (55.76%) of the total edible oil demand was met through import.

Advantages of GM crops

• Increase productivity and prevent crop loss: GM crops are resistance to insect damage, tolerant to herbicides, resistance to plant viruses which help farmers prevent crop loss and increases the crop productivity.
• Food security: With increase in population demand of food also increasing, to address this GM crops help foods to become more accessible and affordable for consumers.
• Enhanced nutritional quality: Many varieties of GM food crops have been developed, to enhance nutritional quality. Eg. Golden rice is a transgenic variety in rice, which is rich in vitamin A.
• Maintain soil fertility: GM crops have increased efficiency of mineral usage that reduces excess use of fertilizers and prevents loss of fertility of soil.

Disadvantages of GM crops

• Ecological concerns: GM crops could lead to erosion of biodiversity and pollute gene pools of endangered plant species.
• Ethical concerns: Unregulated use of GM technology in crop can lead to excessive corporate dominance and unnaturalness of the technology.
• Bio-safety of human and animal health: Risk of toxicity, due to the nature of the product or the changes in the metabolism and the composition of the organisms resulting from gene transfer.
• Environmental concerns: Since a GMO is artificially created, its breeding with the other cropsin the natural ecosystem can result in genetic contamination.

Way forward

• Government roadmap: The government should come up with a fresh road map for ensuring food security without jeopardising the biodiversity and compromising with the safety of human health.
• Capacity building: There is a need for capacity building in GM research agenda and development with science based consistent regulatory policy.
• Robust clinical trials: Clinical trials of GM crops need to be contingent on robust demonstration of safety and efficacy.
• Adherence to the principles of Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety which is an integral part of the Convention of Biological Diversity.

Panama Canal

Time to Read :🕑 1 Mins

Why in news?

Traffic through the Panama Canal is being slashed because of the drought, disrupting global trade.

About Panama Canal

• The canal was built by the United States between 1904 and 1914, and it was officially opened on August 15, 1914.
• It is owned and administered by the Republic of Panama since the oversight of the Canal was transferred from the United States to Panama in 1999.
• Panama Canal is a constructed waterway that connects the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
• It enables ships to avoid the lengthy and hazardous voyage around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America.
• The Panama Canal connects nearly 2,000 ports in 170 countries.

Gulf of Aden

Time to Read :🕑 3 Mins

Why in news?

The Indian Navy's Guided Missile Destroyer INS Vishakhapatnam reportedly responded to a drone attack distress call in the Gulf of Aden.

About Gulf of Aden

• The gulf is named after “Aden,” a port city on Yemen’s coast.
• It is an extension of the Indian Ocean, tucked between the Arabian Peninsula and the African continent.
• It is bounded to the south by Somalia and the Socotra Islands (part of Yemen), to the north by Yemen, to the east by the Arabian Sea, and to the west by Djibouti.
• It is connected to the Somali Sea to the south by the Guardafui Channel and to the Red Sea on the west by the Strait of Bab el Mandeb.
• It is approximately 900 km long and 500 km wide and covers roughly 410,000 square kilometers.

13% of land mass in Kerala vulnerable to landslides

Time to Read :🕑 7 Mins

Why in news?

Recently, an AI-based study highlighted that 13 percent of land in Kerala is highly susceptible to landslides.

Key Highlight of the AI Study

• Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad are highly vulnerable regions.
• The research found a significant 3.46% rise in extreme landslide susceptibility zone in Kerala after the 2018 “extreme rainfall event.”
  • Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Thrissur districts experience intensified landslide susceptibility, necessitating targeted intervention strategies.
  • Kerala’s high-range regions, with approximately 31% of areas elevated above 600m, fall into extreme landslide susceptibility zones.
    • This underscores the urgency of safeguarding not only populated areas but also ecologically-sensitive, high-altitude regions.
• A majority of the highlands region and slopes of the midland-highland transition zone of Kerala are highly vulnerable to landslides, where high-intensity rainfall is the dominant triggering factor.

Differentiate the Causes of Landslides in the Himalayan Region and the Western Ghats:

The Difference in Natural Causes:

• Plate Tectonic movement: Indian Plate is moving towards the Eurasian Plate and collides with it. The Himalayan region lies in the north of the Indian Plate and due to collision with Eurasian Plate, it is tectonically active which causes frequent tremors. This isostatic imbalance causes frequent landslides. Whereas the Western Ghats region is tectonically more stable and has less frequency of tremors and landslides due to it. Therefore the causes of landslides in the Western Ghats are different from the Himalayan region in terms of geotectonic.
• Rock structure: The Himalayan region is comprised of sedimentary rocks. These rocks are more susceptible to denudation and erosion as compared to the rocks of Western Ghats. With little rainfall and construction activities, sedimentary rocks result in denudation whereas the major part of Western Ghats is comprised of basalt rocks. These rocks have great resistance to erosion and denudation and result in fewer landslides due to differences in rock composition.
• Earthquakes: Earthquakes are the most important factor for the landslides in folded mountain regions. Due to this, landslides appear more frequently in the folded mountains of the Himalayas. In 1905, an earthquake in the Kashmir valley resulted in a severe landslide that took the lives of several thousand people. But the Western Ghats are less susceptible to Earthquakes and have fewer Earthquake-induced Landslides.
• Topography and Exogenetic Forces: Many young and rapid-flowing rivers such as the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra originated in the Himalayan region. These rapid-flowing rivers cause large-scale denudation and erosion of mountainous regions. The Himalayas are mighty, having steep slopes and easily eroded by rivers due to their topography, which leads to landslides. Whereas the Western Ghats have mature rivers and denuded topography which rarely yields further denudation and erosion and as of this, it results in fewer landslides.
• Rainfall and Snowfall: Heavy or continuous downpours may result in severe landslides particularly in the regions of steep slopes due to denudation and soil erosion. Both the Himalayan region and the Western Ghats face severe landslides due to concentrated rainfall.

The Difference in Anthropogenic Causes:

• Human Interference: Developmental activities such as infrastructure activities in form of roadways and railways, unplanned and haphazard urbanization particularly ignoring the relief and topographical aspects of the landform, illegal building construction, etc, have aggravated the occurrence of landslides. The Western Ghats is notified as one of the Biodiversity Hotspot zones and due to this the human interference is less as compared to the Himalayan region. But overall both the regions i.e. the Himalayan region and the Western Ghats are facing a number of landslides due to unsustainable development by humans.
• Deforestation: Deforestation is one of the major factors of human-induced landslides. Deforestation for settlements, road construction, agricultural fields, etc is prominent in both the Himalayan region and the Western Ghats. Jhum cultivation (Slash and Burn) in northeast Himalaya, illegal tourism infrastructure development in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and similarly in the Western Ghats results in deforestation and ultimately in a landslide. Therefore, a change in vegetation cover in both regions results in landslides.
• Mining and Quarrying: Extraction of coal, iron and other minerals from the mines and quarries of mountains generally create favourable instances for landslides. For example, limestone mining in Himachal Pradesh, quarrying activities in Banasuramala, Kerala for building stone are the areas where mining and quarrying results in landslides as these activities affect the slope stability.
• Unplanned construction of houses: In the hilly areas, the unplanned growth of towns and cities without testing soil conditions and rocks structure becomes an important cause of landslides. For example, Nainital (Uttarakhand) is facing landslide problems due to the heavy load of hotels, and other residential infrastructure.