Current Affairs Reverse Engineering – CARE (02-05-2024)
| News at a Glance |
| Environment: Role of microbes as the source of methane |
| Polity and Governance: EPI as an Essential Programme on Immunisation |
| Need for the use of labour statistics |
| Implementing the Street Vendors Act |
| Economy: Fertilizer subsidy in FY24 exceeds Revised Estimates |
| Asia’s first spot bitcoin |
Role of microbes as the source of methane
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS 3 (Environment- Energy)
Context: Methane is the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a hazardous air pollutant and greenhouse gas.
Why in News
- An intensive modelling study has found methane emissions from fossil fuels declined between 1990 and the 2000s and have been stable since, whereas microbes have been producing more methane of late.
Key Highlights
- During 2019-2020, these researchers examined the concentration of methane in the atmosphere and how it changed with time.
- Until the 1990s, the concentration increased, then stabilised for a bit, and then started to increase again around 2007.
- According to recent estimates, the atmospheric concentration of methane today is three-times what it was 300 years ago.
- Over a century, methane has a global warming potential 28-times greater than CO2, and even higher over shorter periods like two decades.
- At the U.N. climate talks in 2021, member countries launched the ‘Global Methane Pledge’ to cut the gas’s emissions and slow the planet’s warming. Yet our understanding of methane also continues to evolve.
About Methane
- Methane is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2) but it warms the planet more. Methane (CH4) is a hydrocarbon that is a primary component of natural gas.
- Methane is also a greenhouse gas (GHG), so its presence in the atmosphere affects the earth’s temperature and climate system.
Sources of Methane
- Scientists are increasingly recognising various sources of methane, most of which fit in two categories: biogenic and thermogenic.
- When fossil fuels such as natural gas or oil are extracted from deep within the earth’s crust, thermogenic methane is released. Biogenic methane comes from microbial action.
- The microbes that produce methane are archaea and are called methanogens.
- Archaea are single-celled microorganisms distinct from bacteria and eukaryotes.
- They thrive in oxygen-deficient environments, such as the digestive tracts of animals, wetlands, rice paddies, landfills, and the sediments of lakes and oceans.
- Methanogens play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle by converting organic matter into methane.
- While methane is a potent greenhouse gas, its production by methanogens is an essential part of natural ecosystems.
- But human activities like agriculture, dairy farming, and fossil fuel production have further increased methane emissions.
- Both biogenic and thermogenic activities produce different isotopes of methane.
- Tracking the isotopes is a way to track which sources are the most active.
- Methane is emitted from a variety of anthropogenic (human-influenced) and natural sources.
- Anthropogenic emission sources include landfills, oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, stationary and mobile combustion, wastewater treatment, and certain industrial processes.
Concerns associated with Methane Emissions
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- Methane is the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a hazardous air pollutant and greenhouse gas, exposure to which causes 1 million premature deaths every year.
- Methane is also a powerful greenhouse gas. Over a 20-year period, it is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.
- Modelling with a Supercomputer
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- If there are fewer carbon-13 atoms than a certain level in a group of 1,000 methane molecules, the methane is from a biological source.
- If the methane is from thermogenic sources, such as trapped fossil fuels or geological activities, there will be more carbon-13 atoms in 1,000 molecules.
- Then they sorted the methane isotope data by year and ran it through a program they had developed to recreate the atmosphere from 1980 to 2020 on a supercomputer.
- Data Mismatch
- Finally, the Research Team compared their own results with two emissions inventories, called EDGAR and GAINS, and found some discrepancies.
- EDGAR had reported that methane emissions from oil and natural gas exploration had increased between 1990 and 2020.
- GAINS had recorded a large unconventional rise in emissions since 2006. Their findings disagreed with both inventories.
- They also found microbes were producing more methane than fossil fuels.
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- Need for Local data
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- One possible reason could be an increase in cattle-rearing in Latin America and more emissions from waste in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, the study’s authors wrote in their paper.
- They added that the number of wetlands worldwide had increased as well.
- Studies in the past have pointed to microbes like anaerobic archaea as potentially top contributors of atmospheric methane using satellite data.
Indian Initiatives to Tackle Methane Emissions
- Harit Dhara: It is an anti-methanogenic feed supplement prepared from tannins and saponins containing natural phyto-sources. In addition, the product also contains a small fraction of “selected oil” as an additive.
- National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC): It is a Government of India’s programme launched in 2008 to mitigate and adapt to the adverse impact of climate change.
Global Initiatives
- The Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) is the first global satellite detection and notification system providing actionable data on very large methane emissions around the world. Already in 2023, MARS has notified over 120 major emissions events across 4 continents to stakeholders with the power to act.
- The Global Methane Pledge (GMP) was launched at COP26 by the European Union and the United States. India is not a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge. By joining the Pledge, countries commit to work together in order to collectively reduce methane emissions by at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q1. Which of the following Initiatives are launched with an aim to prevent Methane Emissions?
Select correct code:
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Q. Which of the following statements is/are correct about the deposits of ‘methane hydrate’? (UPSC Prelims 2019)
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Ans: (D) |
| Answer 1- B
Explanation
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EPI as an Essential Programme on Immunisation
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Relevance: GS2- Polity and Governance
Context: Need of further expansion of the Expanded Programme on Immunization.
Why in News
- 2024 commemorates 50 years since the launch of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1974.
What is the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI)?
- The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) is an initiative launched by the World Health Organization in 1974.
- It stands as a global endeavor to ensure equitable access to life-saving vaccines for every child, regardless of their geographic location or socioeconomic status.
- The EPI was introduced as the eradication of smallpox virus was on the horizon, and a need to leverage the then immunisation infrastructure and a trained workforce was recognised to expand the benefit of available vaccines.
- EPI focused on protecting all children against six childhood illnesses, including tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, and measles.
Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in India
- India launched the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in 1978.
- It was later renamed as the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in 1985.
- Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) is a vaccination programme launched by the Government of India in 1985.
- It became a part of the Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme in 1992 and is currently one of the key areas under the National Health Mission since 2005.
- The programme now consists of vaccination for 12 diseases- tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, hepatitis B, rotaviral gastroenteritis, Japanese encephalitis, rubella, pneumonia (haemophilus influenzae type B) and Pneumococcal diseases (pneumococcal pneumonia and meningitis).
Hepatitis B and Pneumococcal diseases were added to the UIP in 2007 and 2017 respectively.
Achievements of Immunization Program
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- In the early 1970s, around 5% of children in low- and middle-income countries had received three doses of DPT, which increased to 84% in 2022 at the global level.
- Smallpox has been eradicated, polio eliminated from all but two countries and many vaccine preventable diseases have nearly disappeared.
- In India, the coverage has increased every passing year and in 2019-21, 76% of children received the recommended vaccines.
- In nearly all low- and middle-income countries, including India, the immunization programme remains a success among all government initiatives, nearly always with far greater coverage than any other health programme.
- Moreover, in mixed health systems with both the public and private sector delivering services, immunization often remains the only health intervention with greater utilization from the government sector.
- Experts often argue that the immunization coverage is a tracer indicator of the possible highest coverage any government intervention can achieve in a given setting.
Challenges associated with Immunization Program
- In early 2023, UNICEF’s ‘The State of the World’s Children’ report revealed a concerning trend: for the first time in more than a decade, the childhood immunization coverage had declined in 2021.
- In 2022, globally, an estimated 14.3 million children were zero dose while another 6.2 million children were partially immunized.
- Over the years, the vaccination coverage in India has increased, both nationally and State-wise. However, there are persisting inequities in coverage by geography, socio-economic strata and other parameters, which demand urgent interventions.
History of Development of Vaccines
- The first anti rabies vaccine, cholera, and typhoid vaccines developed between 1880s to mid-1890s were primarily for adults.
- The first vaccine ever developed in any part of the world against plague (in 1897) was from India and meant for individuals across all age groups.
- The BCG vaccine (against tuberculosis) was first introduced in a nationwide campaign in 1951 and was also administered to the adult population.
- Influenza vaccines have always been administered to adults and children alike.
- However, considering that children are most vulnerable from vaccine-preventable diseases, they have rightly been prioritised for vaccination.
Ways to Enhance better coverage of adult vaccines
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- First, there are some initial policy and technical discussions regarding expanding immunisation coverage in additional populations. However, the Indian government needs to consider providing recommended vaccines for a wider section of adults and elderly population.
- Second, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) in India, provides recommendations on the use of vaccines should start providing recommendations on the use of vaccines in adults and the elderly.
- Third, the prevailing myths and misconceptions about vaccines must be proactively addressed to tackle vaccine hesitancy. The government must consider the help of professional communication agencies to dispel myths
- Fourth, various professional associations of doctors — community medicine experts, family physicians and paediatricians should work to increase awareness about vaccines among adults and the elderly.
- Fifth, medical colleges and research institutions should generate evidence on the burden of diseases in the adult population in India.
Mission Indradhanush (MI)
- Mission Indradhanush (MI) was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on 25th December 2014.
- It is a special catch-up campaign under the Universal Immunization Program (UIP), conducted in the areas of low immunization coverage to vaccinate all the children and pregnant women left out or dropped out from Routine Immunization.
- The Mission Indradhanush aims to cover all those children who are either unvaccinated, or are partially vaccinated against vaccine preventable diseases.
- India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) provide free vaccines against 12 life threatening diseases, to 26 million children annually.
Way Forward
- India’s EPI has made major progress and it is arguably a time for another independent national level review of the UIP in India, engaging key partners and international experts.
- In late 2023, India launched a pilot initiative of adult BCG vaccination as part of efforts to ‘end TB’ from India.
- The COVID-19 vaccination of the adult population has made the public sensitized to the need for and the benefits of adult vaccination.
- In the 50 years of the EPI, it is time for another expansion of the programme with focus on zero dose children, addressing inequities in vaccine coverage and offering vaccines to adults and the elderly.
- It is time to make EPI an ‘Essential Program on Immunization’.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q2. Consider the following statements regarding M-RNA Vaccines:
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? A. 1 and 3 only B. 1 only C. 3 only D. 1, 2 and 3 |
Q. ‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched by the Government of India pertains to (2016)
Ans: (A)
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| Answer –2 A
Explanation –
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Need for the use of Labour Statistics
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Relevance: GS2- Polity and Governance
Context: Various aspects of Labour Reforms in India
Why in News
- There are several challenges with respect to implementation of Labour laws in India
Evolution of labour legislation in India
- The laws relating to labour in India go back 125 years with the enactment of the Apprentice Act, 1850. This Act allowed orphaned children to seek employment when they reach 18 years of age. This led to the enactment of several Acts relating to labour dealing with various aspects pertaining to industrial employment.
- Further, the Factories Act of 1881 and the Bombay Trade Disputes (and Conciliation) Act of 1934 were also enacted following the Apprentice Act of 1850.
- These Acts were further amended during the Second World War.
- The Bombay Industrial Disputes Act, 1938, was replaced by the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946.
- In the same year, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, was enacted by the central government.
- Further, the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, was subsequently amended, superseding the Trade Disputes Act, 1947, which later became the primary tool for government intervention in labour disputes.
Various Aspects of Labour Reforms
- The reform of labour institutions is always in the air as objective (variables) and subjective (orientation of agencies involved) factors keep changing.
- In the case of the industrial relations system and labour market (IRS-LM), variables such as product market, technology, trade and investment, and labour institutions such as trade unions, collective bargaining and strikes keep changing.
- There are two aspects of reforms — substantive issues and procedural aspects.
Use of Social Dialogue
- Social dialogue is an important procedural institutional process to debate and arrive at consensual conclusions which could be used for legal and other policy-oriented actions.
- In the post-reform period, the government used a social dialogue agency, viz., the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), to push the reforms agenda.
- Evidence-based reform arguments enrich social dialogue — something which has not happened thus far. Social partners have been advocating their “class-based opinions” unbacked by credible data or experience.
Labour Statistics
- Labour statistics, unlike economic and industrial data, are not rigorous.
- For example, the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and the National Sample Survey Office produce excellent statistics but have limited information relating to the IRS-LM.
- The Labour Bureau provides statistics on a range of industrial relations (strikes and trade unions) and labour statistics (contract labour, absenteeism, labour turnover, labour inspections). It mostly provides administrative data, viz., those generated as a part of implementing labour laws.
- The statistics on work stoppages are collected voluntarily.
- The composition and the scope of data published by the Labour Bureau has remained virtually the same over the decades.
Challenges in labour Reforms- Reform Arguments
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- Arguments on Labour inspections:
- Employers have criticised the labour inspection system as a case of “Inspector-Raj” and called for its reforms. This criticism stems probably from their “limited experience”.
- They have complained that State governments hardly sanction applications for retrenchment or the closure of establishments.
- They also demand a curb on the right to strike and prefer non-union workplaces.
- To counter the reform arguments mentioned above, trade unions should have collected the relevant information/statistics on inspection and studied them to make informed arguments to support labour inspection — even strengthening them.
- It is then that social partners and the government would have realised the poor quality of data on inspections.
- They would realise that labour inspectors are much fewer in number than the inspection universe.
- Research has shown that there is no all-India data on labour inspections.
- Arguments on Labour inspections:
- Arguments on Closure reform
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- On firing/closure reform, trade unions have not collected data on the retrenchment/closure applications under Chapter V-B submitted to the labour department, permissions granted/refused by the labour department.
- These are not published in most States except in Maharashtra for a limited period.
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- Arguments On Strikes
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- The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 Code on Industrial Relations (CIR) has made legal strikes well-nigh impossible.
- Illegal strikes carry a heavy penalty.
- Trade unions could have used the data on strikes and lockouts published by the Labour Bureau which would show that lockouts are more frequent and account for more work days lost than strikes during the post-reform period.
- This evidence would have challenged the need for introducing harsher clauses on strikes in the CIR.
Solutions
- India has ratified the Labour Statistics Convention (No.160), 1985 and Labour Inspection Convention (081), 1947.
- India must generate statistics that are valid, comprehensive and reliable on IRS-LM.
- Trade unions must know by now that reforms are contested not only by street struggles but also primarily in the realm of ideas where objective data and rich empirical studies are used.
- In essence, trade unions should produce labour statistics, build an active and productive interface with academics and use academic studies to make “evidence-based arguments”.
| CARE MCQ | |
| Q3. Consider the following statements:
Statement I: Code on Social Security, 2020 widened the definition of employees to include inter-state migrant workers. Statement II: Code on Social Security, 2020 does not provide for the registration of gig workers. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
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Q. Consider the following statements: (UPSC Prelims 2017)
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
Ans: (B) |
| Answer 3 C
Explanation
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Implementing the Street Vendors Act
Source: The Hindu
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-problems-with-the-street-vendors-act/article68124512.ece
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS 2- Polity and Governance
Context: Scope, Implementation and Challenges of Street Vendors Act
Why in News
- A decade has passed since the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act came into effect on May 1, 2014.
Significance of Street Vendors
- Street vendors, estimated to constitute 2.5% of any city’s population, play multifaceted roles in city life.
- Local vegetable sellers and food vendors are essential providers of daily services.
- Vending offers many migrants and the urban poor a source of modest yet consistent income.
- The vendors also make city life affordable for others by providing vital links in the food, nutrition, and goods distribution chain at reasonable prices.
- Street vendors are also integral to Indian culture — imagine Mumbai without its vada pav or Chennai without its roadside dosa.
Provisions of the Street Vendors Act
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- Street Vendors Act aimed to ‘protect’ and ‘regulate’ street vending in cities, with State-level rules and schemes, and execution by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) through by-laws, planning, and regulation.
- The Act clearly delineates the roles and responsibilities of both vendors and various levels of government.
- It recognises the positive urban role of vendors and the need for livelihood protection. It commits to accommodating all ‘existing’ vendors in vending zones and issuing vending certificates.
- The Act establishes a participatory governance structure through Town Vending Committees (TVCs) and mandates that street vendor representatives must constitute 40% of TVC members, with a sub-representation of 33% of women street vendors.
- These committees are tasked with ensuring the inclusion of all existing vendors in vending zones.
- Additionally, the Act outlines mechanisms for addressing grievances and disputes, proposing the establishment of a Grievance Redressal Committee chaired by a civil judge or judicial magistrate.
- Its provisions set a crucial precedent for inclusive and participatory approaches to address street vending needs in cities.
Challenges associated with the Street Vendors Act
- The Act now faces new challenges such as the impact of climate change on vendors, a surge in the number of vendors, competition from e-commerce, and reduced incomes.
- The Street Vendors Act has faced three broad challenges.
Challenges at Administrative Level
- At the administrative level, there has been a noticeable increase in harassment and evictions of street vendors, despite the Act’s emphasis on their protection and regulation.
- This is often due to an outdated bureaucratic mindset that views vendors as illegal entities to be cleared.
- There is also a pervasive lack of awareness and sensitisation about the Act among state authorities, the wider public, and vendors themselves.
- TVCs often remain under the control of local city authorities, with limited influence from street vendor representatives. And the representation of women vendors in TVCs is mostly tokenistic.
Challenges at the governance level
- At the governance level, existing urban governance mechanisms are often weak.
- The Act does not integrate well with the framework established by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act for urban governance. ULBs lack sufficient powers and capacities.
- Schemes like the Smart Cities Mission, laden with resources and pushed through as policy priorities from the top-down, mostly focus on infrastructure development and ignore the provisions of the Act for the inclusion of street vendors in city planning.
Challenges at Societal level
- At the societal level, the prevailing image of the ‘world class city tends to be exclusionary.
- It marginalises and stigmatises street vendors as obstacles to urban development instead of acknowledging them as legitimate contributors to the urban economy. These challenges are reflected in city designs, urban policies, and public perceptions of neighbourhoods.
About PM SVANidhi
- A scheme PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) was launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
- It aims to empower Street Vendors by not only extending loans to them, but also for their holistic development and economic upliftment.
- The scheme intends to facilitate collateral free working capital loans of up to INR 10,000/- of one-year tenure, to approximately 50 lakh street vendors, to help resume their businesses in the urban areas, including surrounding peri-urban/rural areas.
Way Forward
- While the Act is progressive and detailed, its implementation requires support, possibly (and ironically) necessitating top-down direction and management starting from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
- This needs to be decentralised over time to ensure effectiveness in addressing the diverse needs and contexts of street vendors nationwide.
- PM SVANidhi, a micro-credit facility for street vendors, has been a positive example in that direction.
- There is a strong need to decentralise interventions, enhance the capacities of ULBs to plan for street vending in cities, and move away from high-handed department-led actions to actual deliberative processes at the TVC level.
- Urban schemes, city planning guidelines, and policies need to be amended to include street vending.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ | ||||||||||||
Q 4. Consider the following pairs:
Which of the above pairs is/are not correctly matched?
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Q. With reference to Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, consider the following statements: (UPSC Prelims 2018)
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Ans- C |
| Answer 4- A
Explanation
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Fertilizer subsidy in FY24 exceeds Revised Estimates
Source: The Hindu Business Line
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS3- Economy- Agriculture
Context: Fertilizer subsidy in Fiscal Year 2023-24 (FY24) has exceeded Revised Estimates (RE)
Why in news
- The fertilizer subsidy in Fiscal Year 2023-24 (FY24) has exceeded Revised Estimates (RE) by over ₹6,500 crore, latest government data show.
Key Highlights
- Subsidy on urea went up to over ₹1.30-lakh crore as against RE of ₹1.29-lakh crore.
- Under nutrient-based subsidy (NBS), expenditure rose to over ₹65,000 crore as against RE of over ₹60,000 crore and Budget Estimate of ₹44,000 crore.
- For a period between FY 2022-23 and 2024-25, total estimated outlay of urea subsidy scheme pegged at over ₹3.68-lakh crore.
- The MRP of 45 kg bag of urea is ₹242 per bag (exclusive of charges towards neem coating and taxes as applicable) while the cost, on some occasions, crossed ₹3,000 for 45 kg bag.
What is fertiliser subsidy?
- Farmers buy fertilisers at MRPs (maximum retail price) below their normal supply-and-demand-based market rates or what it costs to produce/import them.
- The MRP of neem-coated urea, for instance, is fixed by the government at Rs 5,922.22 per tonne, whereas its average cost-plus price payable to domestic manufacturers and importers comes to around Rs 17,000 and Rs 23,000 per tonne, respectively.
- The difference, which varies according to plant-wise production cost and import price, is footed by the Centre as subsidy.
- The MRPs of non-urea fertilisers are decontrolled or fixed by the companies. The Centre, however, pays a flat per-tonne subsidy on these nutrients to ensure they are priced at “reasonable levels”.
- Decontrolled fertilisers, thus, retail way above urea, while they also attract lower subsidy.
Reasons of Exceeds in fertiliser Subsidy
- One possible reason for increase in subsidy is rise in input cost and operations cost mainly on account of increase in natural gas prices.
- The actual expenditure is expected to vary based on the prices of natural gas and other inputs used for the production of urea.
- Under the urea subsidy scheme, urea is provided to farmers at a statutorily notified maximum retail price (MRP).
- The difference between the delivered cost of urea at farm gate and net market realization by the urea units is given as subsidy to the urea manufacturer/importer by the government.
- On a number of occasions, the government has admitted the problem of over-application of urea in the country and that the consumption of nitrogen in India is much higher than many other countries in the world.
- Evidently, Indian farmers do not adhere to the established ideal fertiliser ratio of 4:2:1 of N:P:K, with negative consequences for soil health.
- One of the reasons for over-consumption of urea is being promoted due to NBS which covers other fertilizers like P & K fertilizers only. Because of this urea is cheaper than other fertilizers.
Nutrient-Based Subsidy Policy
- The government implemented nutrient-based subsidy policy w.e.f. April 1, 2010 all over the country, which has now been extended toll 2025-26.
- Under the NBS policy, a fixed rate of subsidy (in ₹ per kg basis) is announced on nutrients namely nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), potash (K) and sulphur (S) by the government on annual/bi-annual basis.
- The per kg subsidy rates on the nutrient N, P, K, S is converted into per tonne subsidy on the various P&K fertilizers covered under NBS policy.
- Any variant of the fertilizers covered under the subsidy scheme with micronutrients namely boron and zinc, is eligible for a separate per tonne subsidy to encourage their application along with primary nutrients.
- At present 25 grades of P&K fertilizers namely DAP, MAP, TSP, MOP, ammonium sulphate, SSP, PDM and 18 grades of NPKS complex fertilizers are covered under the NBS Policy.
- Under the NBS regime, MRP of P&K fertilizers has been left open and fertilizer manufacturers/marketers are allowed to fix the MRP at reasonable rates.
Neem Coated Urea
- Neem-Coated Urea is a fertilizer and an agriculture scheme supported by the Government of India to boost the growth of wheat and paddy, and curb the black market and hoarding of urea.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q5. Which of the following is/are the benefits associated with coating of urea with Neem?
Select the correct answer using the code given below A. 1 and 3 only B. 1 and 2 only C. 3 only D. 1, 2 and 3 |
Q. With reference to chemical fertilizers in India, consider the following statements: (UPSC Prelims 2020)
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Ans: (B) |
| Answer 5 B
Explanation
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Asia’s first spot Bitcoin
Source: Economic Times
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS 3 (Economy-Currency)
Context: Asia’s first spot bitcoin launched
Why in news
- Hong Kong launched trading of Asia’s first spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), moving forward in the city’s race to become a regional virtual asset investment hub.
Key Highlights
- Hong Kong’s pioneering crypto ETFs on the city’s bourse include six funds issued by three managers — Bosera Funds, China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited and Harvest Global Investments.
- Each company issued a spot bitcoin and a spot ether ETF, which can be traded in both Hong Kong and US dollars, while China AMC (HK) also allowed trading in Chinese yuan.
- In the first 30 minutes of trading, the new ETFs all recorded a price rise of between 0.62 percent and 3.81 percent.
What are spot-bitcoin ETFs?
- Spot-bitcoin ETF refers to an exchange traded fund permitted by the SEC to invest directly in bitcoins rather than in its futures.
- In the past 10 years, SEC has rejected every application seeking approval for spot ETF but if speculations are to be believed, the markets regulator is likely to give a green signal to one of the proposals as early as January 2024.
- This would enable investors to get direct exposure to bitcoin through their brokerage accounts, and not through derivative contracts.
- Unlike a futures-based ETF, a spot ETF would own actual bitcoins. This would lead to higher liquidity and greater stability of crypto prices.
About Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
- An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a basket of securities that trades on an exchange just like a stock does.
- ETF share prices fluctuate all day as the ETF is bought and sold; this is different from mutual funds, which only trade once a day after the market closes.
- Crypto exchange traded funds allow investors to gain exposure to the price movement of the underlying assets without having to own the asset directly.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q6. With reference to Hongkong’s first spot bitcoin, which of the following is correct?
Code:
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Q. With reference to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), consider the following statements: (UPSC Prelims 2022)
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Ans- A |
| Answer 6– D
Explanation
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