Newspaper Notes | 3 November 2022 | UPSC CSE

(Important Topics Covered - Team Shashank Sajwan)

1. Curious collage shows rhino horns are shrinking

• A recent study, published in the People and Nature, has revealed that the horns of
rhinoceros may have become smaller over time from the impact of hunting.
• The study found that the rate of decline in horn length was highest in the critically
endangered Sumatran rhino and lowest in the white rhino of Africa.
• There are only 5 surviving species of rhinoceros, threatened by habitat loss and
hunting.
• The black, Javan and Sumatran species are critically endangered, White rhino is near
threatened and the Greater one horned rhino is vulnerable as per the IUCN status.

2. Panamaram heronry in Kerala set to get a new lease of life

• The Panamaram heronry is the largest breeding ground of herons in Kerala’s

Malabar region.
• It is formed on a sandbank on the Panamaram river, and is a breeding ground for
nine species of waterbirds.
• It is the only site in Kerala where cattle egret breeds.
• ₹3 lakh has been granted by the Kerala State biodiversity board to conserve the
heronry.

3. Scientific consent must dictate product availability to farmers and consumers

• The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) had cleared the

environmental release for Dhara Mustard Hybrid – 11, a genetically modified crop.
• DMH-11 employs genes from soil bacterium that makes mustard, a self-pollinating
plant, amenable to being crossed with other varieties and producing hybrid
varieties.
• Hybrid varieties will produce more oil.
• India continues to be a net importer of oil due to poor yields.
• DMH-11 alone may not be the panacea for India’s edible oil crisis but rather
represents a platform technology that requires seed companies to invest in their
own hybrids.

4. A chance to expand the world’s biosphere footprint

• November 3 is being celebrated as the first ‘International Day for Biosphere

Reserves’.

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• World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) was formed in 1971, as a backbone
for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and living in harmony with
nature.
• The ‘South and central Asian Man and Biosphere Reserve’ Networking meeting is
planned for 2023, to advance biosphere reserve establishment and management.
• In south Asia, over 30 biosphere reserves have been established. The first one was
the Hurulu Biosphere Reserve in Sri Lanka.
• In India, the first BR was designated by UNESCO in 2000, namely the blue mountains
of the Nilgriris in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
• Some of the countries in South Asia do not yet have any or enough biosphere
reserves. Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal are some such countries.

5. The new hybrid variant of Mustard

• The GEAC has approved the environmental release of DMH-11, a genetically

modified mustard crop. If approved for commercial cultivation, it will be the first
genetically modified food crop available to Indian farmers.
• DMH-1 was approved for commercial release in the northwest India in 2005-06, but
scientists said that it wasn’t bankable enough to consistently produce hybrid
mustard.
• DMH-11 is a cross between two varieties – Varuna and Early Heera-2.
• This cross was done after introducing genes from two soil bacterium called barnase
and barstar.
• Barnase in Varuna induces a temporal sterility, to stop it from self pollinating, and
Barstar in Heera block the effect of Barnase, allowing seeds to be produced.
• DMH-11 is a transgenic crop because it uses foreign genes from a different species.
• Trials conducted over three years show that DMH-11 has 28% higher yield than its
parent crop varuna.
• India imports 55-60% of its domestic edible oil requirement, primarily due to low
productivity.
• There are two controversies about DMH-11 –
o Genes which are foreign to the species are used.
o Bar gene, which makes the crop tolerant to a herbicide called glufosinate-
ammonium, is used in the hybrid, without proper evaluation.
• The environment release of DMH-11 was also cleared in 2017, but it was challenged
in the SC. Bt Brinjal was also cleared by the GEAC in 2009, but was put on hold by
the UPA government.

6. Can convicted legislators be disqualified from assembly?

• Section 8 of the representation of the people act (RPA) 1951, contains provisions
aimed at decriminalising electoral politics.
• Two categories of criminal cases attract disqualification upon conviction.

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 o Offences that entail a disqualification of 6 years upon conviction, such as
bribery and personation during elections, promoting enmity between
groups, rape and cruelty to women, practicing sati, corruption, terrorism,
etc.
o The second category of cases entails disqualification only if the sentence is of
at least 2 years, nor merely on conviction.
• SC has the power to stay the sentence or the conviction of a person.

7. India aims to end urea imports from 2025

• India aims to end imports of urea from 2025 as the nation boosts its local
production capacity with the commissioning of new plants.
• 5 new plants will be commissioned by 2025 for the production of urea.
• Urea is an important component for fertilizers industry in India.
• The PM will inaugurate the Ramagundam plant on November 12.