Daily Current Affairs 30th and 31st August

Groundwater Contamination in India

Why in news?

Recently, a pan-India analysis of fluoride contamination in groundwater found above-permissible levels of the mineral across several states.

More about the news

• The study was conducted by the National Remote Sensing Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• The study noted that the fluoride contamination was found to be highest during the dry, summer pre-monsoon months, during the March-May period, the country’s fluoride concentration in the groundwater jumped to 8.65 per cent above the permissible limit.
• Rajasthan has the highest levels of fluoride in groundwater, followed by Telangana, western Andhra Pradesh, and eastern Karnataka.

What is Groundwater Contamination?

• Groundwater contamination is defined as the addition of undesirable substances to groundwater caused by human activities.
• Groundwater contamination occurs when man-made products such as gasoline, oil, road salts and chemicals get into the groundwater and cause it to become unsafe and unfit for human use.

Potential Sources of Groundwater Contamination

• Industrialization: Industrial effluents can contain heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals that can contaminate groundwater. These effluents can enter groundwater directly or through exposure to end users. Materials like gasoline, oil, road salts, and chemicals can move through the soil and end up in groundwater.
• Agriculture: Agriculture is the primary cause of groundwater pollution in rural areas. Overwatering and erosion from field irrigation can make it easier for groundwater to become polluted. Pesticides can contaminate groundwater if they are improperly applied or disposed of.
• Poor Solid Waste Management: Landfills produce leachate, which is a liquid that contains harmful substances like bacteria, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants. If leachate isn't collected, treated, and disposed of properly, it can percolate through soil and contaminate groundwater.
• Saltwater intrusion: In coastal areas, excessive pumping of groundwater can cause saltwater to move inland and contaminate freshwater aquifers. This can happen when a cone of depression forms in the freshwater lens, which causes the salt water level to rise.
• Nitrogen Contaminants: Nitrogen contaminants, such as nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia nitrogen, are prevalent inorganic contaminants. Nitrate is predominantly from anthropogenic sources, including agriculture (i.e., fertilizers, manure) and domestic wastewater.
• Arsenic Contamination: Arsenic seepage from industrial and mine discharges, and fly ash ponds of thermal power plants can also lead to arsenic in groundwater. 
• Domestic wastewater: Domestic wastewater contains toxic chemicals that can have serious effects on public health. Improper sewage disposal is a common cause of groundwater contamination.

Consequences of Groundwater Contamination

• Impact on Human Health: Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio.
• Impact on Food Production System: The groundwater contamination affects the food production system. Irrigation with groundwater contaminated by heavy metals and wastewater containing persistent contaminants can result in the accumulation of toxic elements in cereals and vegetables, causing health risks to humans.
• Impact on Soil: Contaminated groundwater can lead to soil contamination and degradation of land quality. For example, in many agricultural areas in arid regions, high groundwater salinity is one of the major factors influencing soil salinization.
• Loss of Water Supply: Chronic groundwater contamination may reduce the availability of freshwater, breaking the balance between water supply and demand and leading to socioeconomic crises and even wars. 
• Economic Effects: Groundwater contamination can result in high costs for alternative water supplies. The value of the surrounding land may drop if the groundwater is contaminated. This is because an area's capacity to support plant, animal, and human life may be diminished by contaminated groundwater.
• Harm to Wildlife: Groundwater Contamination can harm wildlife, and toxic compounds can build up in aquifers over time. Contaminated groundwater can alter marine ecosystems, killing off aquatic species like fish. It can also harm animals and plants that drink contaminated water.

Suggestions

• Pump and Treat: It is a common method for cleaning up groundwater contaminated with dissolved chemicals, including industrial solvents, metals, and fuel oil. Groundwater is extracted and conveyed to an above-ground treatment system that removes the contaminants.
• In Situ Treatment: It occurs when groundwater is treated in place without extraction from the aquifer. In situ treatment technologies can destroy, immobilize or remove contaminants. Examples include in situ chemical oxidation and chemical reduction, and permeable reactive barriers.
• Containment: It is used to keep groundwater plumes from migrating. This is achieved by using a vertical, engineered, subsurface, impermeable barrier. These vertical engineered barriers (VEBs) are walls built below ground to control the flow of groundwater
• Monitored Natural Attenuation: It is the reliance on natural processes to achieve remediation objectives within a reasonable timeframe. These include a variety of physical, chemical or biological processes that can act without human intervention to reduce the mass, toxicity, mobility, volume or concentration of contaminants.

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace

Why in news?

Recently, Justice Hema Committee’s report revealed shocking tales of discrimination, exploitation and sexual harassment of women in the Malayalam film industry.

About Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace

• According to the POSH Act, Sexual Harassment is a form of discrimination and includes unwelcome attention of sexual nature. It includes a range of behaviours from seemingly mild transgressions and annoyances, to actual sexual abuse or sexual assault. 
• The term ‘sexual harassment’ includes conduct of associates, managers, vendors and/or customers who engage in verbally or physically harassing behaviour, which has the potential for humiliating or embarrassing. 
• Current Status: As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, from 2018 to 2022, India reported over 400 cases of sexual harassment at work each year. Sexual harassment complaints under the POSH Act have increased significantly, rising from 161 in 2013-14 to 1,160 in 2022-23.

Reasons for Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace

• Power Imbalnce: Sexual harassment of women can occur when there is an unequal power dynamic between men and women in the workplace. Men are more likely to be in positions of authority and have the ability to make decisions that have an impact on women's careers. This disparity in power has the potential to foster a climate conducive to sexual harassment.
• Gender Stereotyping:Sexual harassment is more common in the workplace because of gender stereotypes and societal views toward women.
• Lack of Awareness and Education:Sexual harassment can be more common if people are not educated or aware of it. There may be a culture of silence surrounding sexual harassment because many people are unaware of what sexual harassment is and how to report it.
• Workplace Culture: Sexual harassment can also be a result of workplace culture. Sexual harassment can occur in an environment where inappropriate behavior is accepted or encouraged.
• Accessibility of Workplace: Workplace physical accessibility may also play a role in sexual harassment. For instance, women may feel more vulnerable to sexual harassment in workplaces with dim lighting, minimal security, or remote locations.

Challenges

• POSH Act:
  • The law is largely inaccessible to women workers in the informal sector as more than 80% of India’s women workers are employed in the informal sector. 
  • The inefficient functioning and the lack of clarity in the law about how to conduct inquiries into incidents of harassment, and lack of awareness in women employees about such committees and who to approach in case of facing harassment, have ended up duplicating the access barriers associated with the justice system.
• Unreported Cases: Experts have noted that in workplaces sexual harassment cases are hugely underreported in India for a number of reasons, like the power dynamics of organisations and fear of professional repercussions. 
• Nature of Complaints: The most difficult thing for workers to do is distinguish sexual harassment from other types of harassment. Employers frequently receive general harassment complaints from staff members that also contain sexual harassment allegations. 
• Fear of Retaliation: Employees who are harassed may fear retaliation, such as losing their job or missing out on opportunities for advancement, and may not come forward. 
• Insufficient Support Mechanisms: Research suggests that only a small fraction of crime victims seek help from formal support networks.

Way Forward

• Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy: Numerous private businesses and organizations do not have any policies prohibiting it. It is mandatory for employers to create and disseminate a policy regarding workplace sexual harassment. The policy ought to specify exactly what sexual harassment is, give instances of unacceptable behavior, and describe how complaints should be filed and handled.
• Regular monitoring and review: Employers should regularly monitor and review the workplace for incidents of sexual harassment. This can include conducting surveys and feedback sessions to gather information on the prevalence and nature of sexual harassment at the workplace.
• Raising Awareness: Regular training programs on sexual harassment prevention should be conducted for employees, managers, supervisors and leaders. The government must spread knowledge about gender-sensitive parenting techniques. A curriculum on gender equity can also be implemented at the school level by the government.
• Compensation: If a complaint is proven, the victim may be entitled to compensation from the harasser. The amount of compensation should be based on factors like emotional distress, loss of professional opportunities, and financial status.

Pacific Islands Forum

Why in news?

The Pacific Islands Forum removed references to Taiwan from a group communique after complaints from China.

About

• The Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation among countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations
• The Forum was founded in November 1971, with Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Tonga and Western Samoa as the founding members.
• At present, the Forum has 18 member states. Australia and New Zealand are among the larger nations in the bloc, with some countries having populations as small as 1,500 people.
• The Pacific Island Forum envisages a “resilient Pacific region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion and prosperity, that ensures all Pacific peoples can lead free, healthy and productive lives”.
• The Biketawa Declaration (2000) on collective security committed Pacific Islands Forum members to eight values, including good governance, liberty of the individual, democratic processes, indigenous rights and cultural values,
• Several of the member countries of the Forum are particularly susceptible to environmental challenges, making climate change and sea level rise key focal points for the forum.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Why in news?

Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the progressive expansion of financing facility under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.

More about the news

• These initiatives aim at expanding the scope of eligible projects and integrate additional supportive measures to foster a robust agricultural infrastructure ecosystem.
• The Government has announced the below given measures to expand the scope of Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme.
  1. Viable Farming Assets: To allow all eligible beneficiaries of scheme for creation of infrastructure covered under 'viable projects for building community farming assets'. This move is expected to facilitate the development of viable projects that will enhance community farming capabilities, thereby improving productivity and sustainability in the sector.
  2. Integrated Processing projects: To include integrated primary secondary processing projects in list of eligible activities under AIF. 
  3. PM KUSUM Component-A: To allow convergence of Component-A of PM-KUSUM with AIF for farmer/group of farmers/ Farmer Producer Organizations/ Cooperatives/ Panchayats. The alignment of these initiatives aims to promote sustainable clean energy solutions alongside the development of agricultural infrastructure.

About Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

• The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme is a medium to long term debt financing facility that supports post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets. 
• The AIF was launched in 2020 and provides interest subvention and credit guarantee to eligible beneficiaries.
• The scheme provide financial assistance in the form of interest subvention and credit guarantee for setting Post Harvest Management (PHM) projects which will help better post-harvest management and reduction in wastage.
• Credit Guarantee coverage will be available for eligible borrowers under credit guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) Scheme for loan upto Rs 2 crore.
• Rate of Interest is linked with MCLR and Credit Rating.

Kuno National Park

Why in news?

Recently, another Namibian male cheetah died at Kuno National Park.

About Kuno National Park

• The Kuno National Park lies in Madhya Pradesh in Central India near the Vindhyan Hills.
• Initially established as a wildlife sanctuary, it was only in 2018 that the government changed its status into a national park.
• It is named after the Kuno River (One of the main tributaries of the Chambal River) that cuts across it, Kuno is primarily a grassland region.
• The protected area of the forest is home to the jungle cat, Indian leopard, sloth bear, Indian wolf, striped hyena, golden jackal, Bengal fox and dhole, along with more than 120 bird species.
• Kuno National Park was selected under ‘Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India’.

Chandipura Virus

Why in news?

Recently, the WHO identified India's current Chandipura virus outbreak as the largest in 20 years.

About Chandipura Virus

• Chandipura virus is an arbovirus belonging to genus Vesiculovirus in the family Rhabdoviridae.
• The virus was first identified in 1965 during an outbreak in Chandipura village in Maharashtra.
• Chandipura virus is a rare and potentially deadly pathogen that causes fever, flu-like symptoms, and acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
• The virus is transmitted through vectors like mosquitoes, ticks, and sandflies, and can lead to rapid progression of illness, coma, and even death.
• There is no specific antiviral treatment available for Chandipura virus infection, so supportive care remains the mainstay of management, including treating symptoms and preventing complications.

Quasar

Why in news?

Recently, the astronomers have discovered the brightest Quasar ever observed in the Universe.

More about the news

• This record-breaking celestial body, named J0529-4351, was identified using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.
• This discovery opens new avenues for studying the early universe and the formation of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.

About Quasar

• A quasar is a rare, extremely luminous object in the center of a galaxy that's powered by a supermassive black hole.
• Quasars are visible across long distances and can outshine all the stars in their galaxy. They can be seen in radio waves and X-rays.

Formation:

• Gas and dust fall into a supermassive black hole, creating a spinning disk. The black hole's magnetic field traps particles in the disk, which are then expelled along the black hole's poles in the form of jets.
• The gas and dust become luminous due to the friction and gravitational forces as they fall into the black hole. The disk can reach temperatures of millions of degrees, causing it to shine brightly.
• Supermassive black holes in nearby galaxies typically do not have that much gas available to them, so quasars are typically found in distant galaxies.