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UPSC Essentials: Key terms of the past week with MCQs

From HINDI to NLEM— here's a highlight of some of the important terms useful for UPSC CSE Prelims and Mains preparation. Don't miss solving the MCQs and quiz youself with Post Read Q&A.

upsc, current affairs for upsc, key terms of the past week, upsc news,prelims 2023, mains 2022, upsc key, upsc essentials, sarkari naukri, government jobsKey terms of the past week that you must not ignore. ( Representative image)

Essential key terms from the last week’s news headlines or between the lines categorised as per the relevance in the UPSC-CSE syllabus. Solve the MCQs below. Also, post Read Q&A will help you to self-evaluate your retention memory after reading the article.

CRISPR

Why in news?

— In the 10 years since it was developed, the genome-editing technology called CRISPR has begun to deliver on the near unlimited potential that scientists say it has to improve the quality of human life.

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— The technology enables a simple but remarkably efficient way to ‘edit’ the genetic codes of living organisms, thus opening up the possibility of ‘correcting’ genetic information to cure diseases, prevent physical deformities, or to even produce cosmetic enhancements.

— Over the last three years especially, several therapeutic interventions using CRISPR for diseases like thalassaemia or sickle cell anaemia have gone into clinical trials, mainly in the United States, and the initial results have been flawless.

— Last year, the Indian government approved a five-year project to develop this technology to cure sickle cell anaemia that mainly afflicts the tribal populations of the country.

— Hundreds of research groups and companies around the world are working to develop a range of specific solutions using CRISPR. The developers of the technology, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020, one of the fastest recognitions accorded by the Nobel committee following after a breakthrough.

Key takeaways

— CRISPR is short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which is a reference to the clustered and repetitive sequences of DNA found in bacteria, whose natural mechanism to fight some viral diseases is replicated in this gene-editing tool.

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— Editing, or modification, of gene sequences to eliminate — or introduce — specific properties in an organism is not a new development. It has been happening for several decades now, particularly in the field of agriculture, where genetically modified variants, with specific desirable traits, are regularly developed. It usually involves the introduction of a new gene, or suppression of an existing gene, through a process described as genetic engineering.

— CRISPR technology is different. It is simple, and still far more accurate — and it does not involve the introduction of any new gene from the outside. Its mechanism is often compared to the ‘cut-copy-paste’, or ‘find-replace’ functionalities in common computer programmes. A bad stretch in the DNA sequence, which is the cause of disease or disorder, is located, cut, and removed — and then replaced with a ‘correct’ sequence. And the tools used to achieve this are not mechanical, but biochemical — specific protein and RNA molecules.

— The technology replicates a natural defence mechanism in some bacteria that uses a similar method to protect itself from virus attacks.

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— The first task is to identify the particular sequence of genes that is the cause of the trouble. Once that is done, an RNA molecule is programmed to locate this sequence on the DNA strand, just like the ‘find’ or ‘search’ function on a computer. After this, a special protein called Cas9, which is often described as ‘genetic scissors’, is used to break the DNA strand at specific points, and remove the bad sequence.

— A DNA strand, when broken, has a natural tendency to re-attach and heal itself. But if the auto-repair mechanism is allowed to continue, the bad sequence can regrow. So, scientists intervene during the auto-repair process by supplying the correct sequence of genetic codes, which attaches to the broken DNA strand. It is like cutting out the damaged part of a long zipper, and replacing it with a normally functioning part.

— The entire process is programmable, and has remarkable efficiency, though chances of error are not entirely ruled out.

The ethical dilemma

— Due t CRISPR’s power to induce dramatic changes in an individual, scientists, including the main developer Doudna, have been warning of the potential for misuse of the technology.

—oIn 2018, a Chinese researcher disclosed that he had altered the genes of a human embryo to prevent the infection of HIV. This was the first documented case of creating a ‘designer baby’, and it caused widespread concern in the scientific community.

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—  Preventive interventions to obtain special traits is not something that scientists currently want the technology to be used for. Also, because the changes were made in the embryo itself, the new acquired traits were likely to be passed to future generations. Though the technology is fairly accurate, it is not 100 per cent precise, and could induce a few errors as well, making changes in other genes. This has the possibility of being inherited by successive generations.

— In case of therapeutic interventions, the changes in genetic sequences remain with the individual and are not passed on to the offspring.

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Points to ponder: What are the promises the CRISPR technology offers and what are its challenges?

1. MCQ:

What is Cas9 protein that is often mentioned in news? ( UPSC- CSE 2019)

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(a) A molecular scissors used in targeted gene editing
(b) A biosensor used in the accurate detection of pathogens in patients
(c) A gene that makes plants pest-resistant
(d) A herbicidal substance synthesized in genetically modified crops

 

Hindi

Why in news?

—The annual celebration of Hindi Diwas commemorates September 14, 1949, the day when the Constituent Assembly of India took the decision to make Hindi the official language of the Union government, while English was to hold the status of associate language for 15 years.

—It was a compromise, famously called the Munshi-Ayyangar formula, named after the drafting committee members K M Munshi and N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar, that took into account the demands of the Hindi protagonists and the delegates from South India who wished English to have a Constitutional status.

Key takeaways

—The debate over the predominance of Hindi was hardly new. From the mid- 1800s onwards, it was in conflict with Urdu in those parts of the subcontinent that we today call the ‘Hindi belt’.

—Hindu-Urdu debate

Historian Sumit Sarkar in his celebrated book, ‘Modern India: 188-1947’ (1989) noted how “Urdu had been the language of polite culture over a big part of North India, for Hindus quite as much for Muslims.” He elaborated by noting that in the period between 1881-90 twice as many Urdu books had been published in the United Provinces as Hindi. The same was true for newspapers as well. There existed 16,256 Urdu newspapers in circulation in comparison to 8002 ones in Hindi.

Things began to change with the English East India Company (EIC) making inroads in the Indian subcontinent. In the mid-1800s when the EIC started consolidating its position in India, large parts of the country were under the Mughal rule with Persian as the official court language. By the 1830s, the EIC replaced Persian with English at the higher levels of administration and the local vernaculars would be in usage in the lower levels. Given the existing popularity of Urdu among the local population of North India, it came to enjoy a newfound predominance in lower levels of government service.

The socio-political changes in North India in the mid-19th century were accompanied by a rapid expansion of the government education system with its bifurcation of the two vernaculars, Hindi and Urdu. While both the languages were not exclusive to any particular community, surveys of the period noted how those belonging to Brahmin, Rajput and Baniya castes were more likely to go to Hindi schools, while the Persian and Urdu schools were more popular among the Muslims and Kayasthas. Consequently, the latter communities found it easier to be employed in government services.

The desire to find a place in the administration prompted many proponents of Hindi to spell out its merits, including the fact that it was the language of the original inhabitants of the subcontinent, and that it was subdued in the course of the Mughal rule. Those like Bhartendu Harishchandra, who is known as the father of Hindi Literature, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, who established the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Parishad, were key figures in the movement to popularise Hindi. Organisations such as the Nagari Pracharini Sabha Banaras, Hindi Sahitya Sammelan in Allahabad and Rashtra Bhasha Prachar Samiti cropped up in large parts of North India with the specific objective of furthering the case for Hindi.

Finally in 1900, the government of the North West Provinces and Oudh gave equal status to the Devanagari and Urdu script, much to the disappointment of the Muslims in the region who came to believe that their language was at the risk of being extinct.

Many argue that the seeds of the Hindu-Muslim conflict that culminated in the Partition of the subcontinent, lay in the Hindi-Urdu debate of the 19th century. The linguistic dichotomy gained further currency when Pakistan opted for Urdu as its official language and India chose Hindi.

Post- Independence debate over Hindi

The choice to make Hindi the official language of an independent India was rooted in the necessity of finding a unifying force in a country with diverse languages, scripts and dialects.

Since Hindi was the spoken language of large parts of North India, it was seen as a safe option for the national linguistic unification of the country. However, large parts of the non-Hindi speaking regions of the country were unhappy with the idea.

Between September 12 and 14, 1949, that the Constituent Assembly of India debated the status of India’s languages. Among the issues that were discussed were the use of the term ‘national language’, instead of ‘official’ language; Hindi vs languages such as Bengali, Telugu, Sanskrit, or Hindustani; Devanagari script vs the Roman script; the language to be used in the higher judiciary and Parliament; international numerals vs those in Devanagari script.

Hindi author Seth Govind Das, who represented the Central Provinces and Berar, argued for ‘one language and one script’ and suggested that Hindi should replace English at the earliest. Naziruddin Ahmad representing West Bengal on the other hand argued that “English should continue as the official language for all purposes for which it was being used, till a time when an ‘All India language’ is evolved, which will be capable of expressing the thoughts and ideas on various subjects, scientific, mathematical, literary, historical, philosophical, political…”

T A Ramalingam Chettiar representing Coimbatore in the Assembly noted that the language issue “probably means life and death for the South”. He pointed out that Hindi was just as foreign to the South as English was. “Unless steps are taken to make the people in the South feel that they have something to do with the country, …I do not think the South is going to be satisfied at all. …To what it may lead, it is not easy to say at present,” he said.

Then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru pointed out that while English had done a lot of good to the nation, no country can succeed on the basis of a foreign language. He recalled Gandhi’s support for Hindustani, which he believed represented the composite culture of India. However, he also cautioned against the imposition of Hindi in opposition to the wishes of large parts of India. This, Nehru said, was “not only an incorrect approach, but …a dangerous approach” — “You just cannot force any language down the people or group who resist that.”

Finally a compromise was reached wherein English along with Hindi was made the official language of India for a period of 15 years. At the completion of the period, Hindi would replace English as the only language to be used for official purposes.

Further, Article 351 of the Constitution asked for the promotion and development of the Hindi language in a way that it could serve as a means of expression in all matters.

What else you should know?

—When the 15 year period came to an end protests broke out over the fear of imposition of Hindi in large parts of non-Hindi speaking India, particularly in Tamil Nadu. Riots broke out in Madurai in January 1965 and soon spread to Madras. The resistance resulted in the Centre passing the Official Languages Act, which stated that English would continue to be upheld as official language along with Hindi.

—In the years that followed, the government has made several efforts to propagate Hindi as the unifying language of India, the celebration of Hindi Diwas being one among them.

—The 2011 linguistic census accounts for 121 mother tongues, including 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.

—Hindi is the most widely spoken, with 52.8 crore individuals, or 43.6% of the population, declaring it as their mother tongue. The next highest is Bengali, mother tongue for 9.7 crores (8%) — less than one-fifth of Hindi’s count.

—In terms of the number of people who know Hindi, the count crosses more than half the country. Nearly 13.9 crore (over 11%) reported Hindi as their second language, which makes it either the mother tongue or second language for nearly 55% of the population.

—Hindi has been India’s predominant mother tongue over the decades, its share in the population rising in every succeeding census.

—In 1971, 37% Indians had reported Hindi as their mother tongue, a share that has grown over the next four censuses to 38.7%, 39.2%, 41% and 43.6% at last count.

—Between 1971 and 2011, the number of individuals who declared their mother tongue as Hindi multiplied 2.6 times, from 20.2 crore to 52.8 crore. The numbers more than doubled for Punjabi, Maithili, Bengali, Gujarati, and Kannada, and almost doubled for Marathi.

—English, alongside Hindi, is one of the two official languages of the central government, but it is not among the 22 languages in the 8th Schedule. It is one of the 99 non-scheduled languages. In terms of mother tongue, India had just 2.6 lakh English speakers in 2011.

—As a second language, 8.3 crore spoke it in 2011, second only to Hindi’s 13.9 crore.

Article 343 in The Constitution Of India 1949

Official language of the Union

(1) The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals

(2) Notwithstanding anything in clause ( 1 ), for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement: Provided that the president may, during the said period, by order authorise the use of the Hindi language in addition to the English language and of the Devanagari form of numerals in addition to the international form of Indian numerals for any of the official purposes of the Union

(3) Notwithstanding anything in this article, Parliament may by law provide for the use, after the said period of fifteen years, of

(a) the English language, or

(b) the Devanagari form of numerals, for such purposes as may be specified in the law

Point to ponder: When citizens of states who speak other languages communicate with each other, it should be in the language of India. Do you agree?

2. MCQ:

Consider the following statements and answer the questions below

1. Draft Article 301A or Munshi-Ayyangar Proposal,1949  among other things, declared Hindi in the Devanagari script as the official language of the Union.

2. Article 343 of the Constitution asked for the promotion and development of the Hindi language in a way that it could serve as a means of expression in all matters

Which of the following statements is/are true?

a) Only 1

b) Only 2

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

Etherium Merge

Why in news?

—Ethereum, the world’s second most valuable cryptocurrency, has completed a significant software overhaul which promises to ramp up security of the cryptocurrency while claiming to cut down on its carbon footprint, nearly entirely.

—The revamp, known as ‘The Merge,’ will cast aside the need for crypto miners and gigantic mining farms, who had previously driven the blockchain under a mechanism called ‘proof-of-work’ (PoW). Instead, it has now shifted to a ‘proof-of-stake’ (PoS) mechanism that assigns ‘validators’ randomly to approve transactions and earn a small reward.

—The move to PoS will reduce ethereum’s energy consumption by nearly 99.95 per cent, according to the Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the cryptocurrency and its related technologies.

Key takeaways

—Ethereum is a decentralised cryptocurrency, meaning that it does not have institutions like banks approving the transactions that happen on its network – the approvals were earlier happening under the PoW consensus mechanism which was essentially done by miners. Miners would compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles using a massive infrastructure of cutting edge computer hardware, and the first one to solve the puzzle would be chosen as the validator. This method was almost entirely dependent on crypto farms, which are massive warehouses lined with rows of computers which would solve the puzzles.

—There was, however, one big problem – these mining farms were energy guzzlers, leading to one of the biggest criticisms of the crypto industry that they sometimes consumed more electricity than entire countries, and were therefore a big concern in terms of environmental sustainability.

—Enter ‘The Merge’ and the shift to the PoS consensus mechanism. Ethereum is still a decentralised platform, but under the new concept, it would not need miners and mining farms to authenticate transactions anymore. Instead, a validator will be randomly assigned using an algorithm from a pool of people who ‘stake’ their coins, which essentially means pledging at least 32 Ethereum tokens on the network. This would entirely eliminate the need for miners on the Ethereum network.

—The ‘Merge’ comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny over cryptocurrencies which have taken a severe beating in their value since the beginning of this year. One of the biggest benefits being touted about ‘The Merge’ is that it will make transactions on the Ethereum network extremely secure.

—Justin Drake, one of Ethereum’s key researchers leading the migration, explained it in Time Magazine as: “The Merge dramatically increases the security of Ethereum. An attacker needs 51% of the blockchain’s value to [take control]. With Proof of Work, you need on the order of $5 billion, which allows you to buy enough computers and transformers, connect all of them to the grid, and then carry out an attack. With Proof of Stake, we will have about $20 billion in economic security today – and this is a number I expect will grow dramatically.”

—Apart from that, it is also being seen as an environmentally conscious move as Ethereum is expected to now consume 99 per cent or so less energy.

—Given that some of the most popular applications of cryptocurrencies such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralised finance (DeFi) are based on the Ethereum network, the overhaul could have far-reaching consequences in the future.

—At the Ethereum Community Conference in July, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin had said that post ‘The Merge’, the network will undergo further upgrades which he called the “surge,” “verge,” “purge,” and “splurge”.

Surge: This refers to the addition of Ethereum sharding, which promises to process transactions on the network much faster than now. Sharding basically means dividing transactions across several different chains in a way that will decrease fees and speed up transactions. “By the end, ethereum will be able to process 100,000 transactions per second,” Buterin had said at the conference.

Verge: The verge will implement what Buterin called “Verkle trees” and “stateless clients,” which will allow users on the network to become validators without having to store extensive amounts of data on their machines.

Purge: As the name suggests, this step will involve purging old network history. “The purge: trying to actually cut down the amount of space you have to have on your hard drive, trying to simplify the Ethereum protocol over time and not requiring nodes to store history,” Buterin said.

Splurge: Buterin called this phase “the fun stuff.” It aims at making sure that the network continues to run smoothly and that the updates to the protocol in the previous sections do not cause any issues.

Point to ponder: How do digital currencies work?

3. MCQ:

Which of the following sentences is incorrect?

a) Ethereum is a decentralised cryptocurrency, meaning that it does not have institutions like banks approving the transactions that happen on its network .

b) Surge refers to the addition of Ethereum sharding, which promises to process transactions on the network much faster than now.

c) ‘The Etherium Merge,’ will cast aside the need for crypto miners and gigantic mining farms, who had previously driven the blockchain under a mechanism called ‘proof-of-stake’ (PoS).

d) One of the biggest benefits being touted about ‘The Etherium Merge’ is that it will make transactions on the Ethereum network extremely secure.

NLEM

Why in news?

—The Union Health Ministry recently released the new National List of Essential Medicine (NLEM)-2022, revising it after a seven-year period.

—The new list, issued on September 13, has included more cancer medicines, newer diabetes drugs, and even four drugs that are under patent.

Key takeaways

—Curated by experts in consultation with stakeholders, the list includes medicines that are needed to address the priority healthcare needs of the majority of the population. The drugs included are those that are best for the treatment of a particular condition and are cost-effective at the same time. This is the reason the list almost always sees the inclusion of generics (unbranded medicines, like paracetamol instead of crocin).

—The list usually includes medicines that are a part of government’s health programmes, such as bedaquiline, included in the 2022, that is used in the country’s TB elimination programme.

—Framed on the principles of the World Health Organisation’s essential medicine list, India’s first list was developed in 1996. It has since been modified four time – in 2003, 2011, 2015, and now in 2022.

—The revisions are done keeping in mind the changing profile of diseases in the country, newer drugs becoming available in the market, drugs becoming obsolete or being banned for certain risks, and newer treatment protocols.

—The list creates a framework for procurement of medicines at government healthcare facilities – the essential medicines should ideally be available at all healthcare centres depending on the level of care (NLEM marks all drugs as P, S, or T depending on whether they ought to be available at primary, secondary or tertiary healthcare facilities). It also helps hospitals create their drug policies such as which medicines to be used – the NLEM-2022 switched up several antibiotics depending on the resistance pattern, including a strong, broad-spectrum antibiotic Meropenem in the list.

—How does the NLEM make the medicines affordable?

The government has the power to control the prices of certain medicines, those needed in public interest, through the Drug Prices Control Order. The National List of Essential Medicines forms the primary basis for considering a drug as essential and controlling its prices. Additionally, the prices of drugs other than those included in the NLEM may also be controlled through the DPCO.

Once a drug is included in the NLEM, its prices are controlled by the central government and cannot be changed by companies themselves.

“Based on this list, the NPPA will decide the ceiling prices. The prices of medicines under the NLEM cannot be increased by the companies themselves, but every year the prices are increased or decreased as per the Wholesale Price Index, meaning the prices of these medicines cannot be increased unreasonably,” Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said during the event to launch the list.

—What are the significant additions to the NLEM-2022?

The new list has added 34 medicines that were not in the NLEM-2015, most significantly it has added four cancer medicines — Bendamustine Hydrochloride — that used for treating certain types of blood and lymph node cancers, Irinotecan HCI Trihydrate used for treating colorectal and pancreatic cancers, Lenalidomide for treating various type of cancers, and Leuprolide acetate for treating prostate cancer. Cancer therapies are usually very costly, but also have higher trade margins.

The list has also included newer class of drugs that are now routinely used for diabetes management by doctors – the medicine Teneligliptin and the insulin Glargine. The rotavirus vaccine which is now a part of the government’s universal immunisation programme has also been included.

Importantly, the list has also included at least four drugs that are still under patent — such as Bedaquiline and Delaminid for TB, Dolutegravir for HIV, and Daclatasvir for the treatment of Hepatitis C – all of which are part of government’s national health programmes. This is the first time that patented drugs have been included in the list as these drugs usually cost more.

“A question is raised time and again whether patented drugs should be included in the NLEM. So, the committee, as well as the stakeholders and the ministry, took the decision that patented drugs can also be a part of NLEM if they fulfil the criteria (of need, safety, efficacy, and cost effectiveness). And, these medicines are very important and should be a part,” said Dr YK Gupta, who heads the Standing National Committee on Medicines that was set up in 2018 to modify the list.

The list has made another notable addition – it has included nicotine and opioid replacement therapy, with no therapy in the category available in the previous lists.

Point to ponder: Which drugs were removed from the NLEM-2022?

4. MCQ:

Which of the following statements with respect to NLEM is correct?

a) The National List of Essential Medicines forms the primary basis for considering a drug as essential and controlling its prices.

b) Once a drug is included in the NLEM, its prices are controlled by the central government and cannot be changed by companies themselves.

c) Petroleum jelly and bleaching powder have also been removed from the list NELM-2022.

d) All of the above

Answers to the MCQs: 1 (a), 2(a), 3(c), 4(d)

Post Read Q & A

Can you recall what you read?

1. How has the Hindu-Urdu debate evolved over time?

2. What is the ethical dilemma over CRISPR technology?

3. What are the major drugs included in NLEM -2022?

 

First published on: 19-09-2022 at 02:18:46 pm
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