30 May 2024, The Hindu
Early onset: monsoon set to arrive in Kerala today
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Prelims syllabus: General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change
- The Southwest monsoon set in over Kerala on Thursday, a day ahead of its forecast onset.
- The India Meteorological Department had earlier said that the monsoon would set in by May 31.
- Monsoon in Kerala usually sets in around 1st June, progressing northwards in surges, and covers the entire country around 15th July.
- All the criteria required for the declaration of the monsoon were met in the morning.
India, liberalism and its crisis of legitimacy
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GS 2: Indian Constitution: features, amendments, significant provisions
- Amid the heated rhetoric that is already consuming most of the space for ideas in this acrimonious and protracted general election, there seems little space for engaging in a more serious discussion about political values.
- Just over three decades ago, after the elections of 1991, India embarked on a tryst with liberalism, then regarded as the apex of ‘mankind’s ideological evolution’ and ‘the final form of government’ (to quote Francis Fukuyama’s famous essay “The End of History?’).
- In the years since, liberalism has faced trenchant criticism from both the left and the right, in India and across the world.
- The alarming rise of populist and authoritarian strongmen across the globe has reflected a discernible retreat of liberal democracy from its post-Cold-War heyday to just 34 countries (as on 2022).
Dispelling population myths triggered by a working paper
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GS 1: Society: population and associated issues,
- Many media reports and politicians have tended to misinterpret and sensationalise findings from a working paper put out by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), titled “Share of Religious Minorities: A Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015)”.
- These reports have inaccurately tried to create an impression that the Muslim population in India is growing rapidly and that this threatens the Hindu population.
- Unfortunately, such interpretations fuel a divisive political narrative that is often misinformed about population issues and further obscures the truth from the public.
Insidious, incendiary
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GS 2: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States,
- The devastating fires, at a gaming centre in Rajkot, Gujarat and a newborn nursing clinic in Delhi within 24 hours of each other, which left over 30 dead, is another grim reminder of one of India’s insidious threats: the pervasive nature of the negligence of the fire safety of buildings by a whole range of stakeholders — from builders and proprietors to regulatory authorities.
- While the Bureau of Indian Standards has set detailed fire safety protocols in its National Building Code of India (NBC) 2016, it is a recommendatory document, as fire services is a State subject, and enforced at the municipality level.
- The sheer disregard for India’s fire safety norms is apparent from the opening lines in the ‘About Fire Service – Background’ page of the Director General, Fire Services website under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Open access is crucial for self-reliance in science
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GS 3: Science and Technology- Recent developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
- A recent editorial piece in Naturelauded India’s ascent towards becoming a scientific juggernaut, paralleling its burgeoning economic clout.
- The Indian science ecosystem is indeed on an impressive trajectory, now ranking third globally in research output, and eleventh in quality, according to the Nature Index.
- However, ‘ease of doing science’ that can lead to great discoveries and innovation hinges on robust infrastructure and resources — a glaring shortfall in India’s research landscape.
New light-based tool could cut cost of spotting viral infections
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GS 3: Science and Technology- Recent developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
- Viruses infect plants, animals, and humans. A virus’ spread from animals to humans could unleash pandemics like COVID-19 — significant public health crises with considerable economic and social fallout.
- To nip such infections in the bud, public health researchers have advocated the ‘One Health’ approach: monitoring and protecting plant, animal, environment, and human health in an integrated fashion.
