3 October 2023

• Bihar caste survey: Bihar released the findings of its state-wide caste-based survey; OBCs and EBCs together comprise 63 per cent of the state's population.
• Nobel Medicine: Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman were announced as the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureates for mRNA vaccine technology.
• NavIC: India's first Made-in-India NavIC chipsets were announced, offering 5-metre accuracy versus GPS's 15-20 metres.
• Malaria vaccine: WHO recommended a second malaria vaccine, the R21/Matrix-M, co-developed by Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India.

GS area: Polity, Society, Social Justice

Bihar released the findings of its caste-based survey initiated in January 2023. The survey gathered socio-economic data on all communities in the state.

• Population breakdown: total population approximately 13 crore; Other Backward Classes (OBCs) 27 per cent; Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) 36 per cent; Forward Castes 15.5 per cent; Scheduled Castes 20 per cent; Scheduled Tribes 1.6 per cent; Hindus about 82 per cent; Muslims 17.72 per cent.
• Political implication: OBCs and EBCs together exceed 63 per cent. This creates pressure to increase OBC reservation beyond the current 27 per cent central quota.
• 50 per cent ceiling: the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) capped total reservations at 50 per cent. Bihar's data will be used to argue that the current ceiling is constitutionally inadequate for population-representative representation.
• Last caste census: the all-India caste census was conducted in 1931. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 collected caste data but the government published only socio-economic data in 2016; the caste breakdown was withheld.
• Challenges: caste lists differ between state and central records; privacy concerns; political contestation over methodology.

Static linkage: Polity (reservations), Social Justice.

GS area: Science and Technology, Health

The Royal Swedish Academy announced Katalin Karikó (Hungary) and Drew Weissman (USA, University of Pennsylvania) as the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureates.

• Discovery: lab-created mRNA was recognised as foreign by dendritic cells, triggering inflammation that destroyed it before it could produce any protein. Karikó and Weissman found that modifying the nucleoside bases of mRNA dramatically reduced this inflammatory response.
• Publication timeline: first published 2005; key improvements in 2008 and 2010.
• Application: their modified mRNA platform made the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines possible. These vaccines were developed and authorised in under a year.
• mRNA vs DNA vaccines: mRNA requires ultra-cold storage (minus 90 to minus 50 degrees Celsius for some formulations); DNA vaccines are more thermostable. mRNA delivers protein-synthesis instructions directly to cells; DNA vaccines often use a viral vector. The Zydus Cadila ZyCoV-D and Oxford/AstraZeneca Covishield are DNA-based.
• Future applications: cancer immunotherapy, personalised vaccines against individual tumour antigens, HIV, tuberculosis.

Static linkage: Science and technology, health and medicine.

GS area: Science and Technology

India's first "Made in India" NavIC chipsets, designed and manufactured domestically, were announced.

• NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation): India's regional navigation satellite system, operated by ISRO. It provides coverage over India and up to 1,500 km beyond the territorial boundary.
• Accuracy: NavIC provides positioning accuracy of about 5 metres. The US GPS system provides about 15-20 metres of civilian accuracy.
• Constellation: 8 operational satellites. 3 are in geostationary orbit; 5 in geosynchronous orbit (inclined at 29 degrees). This combination ensures consistent coverage over India.
• Chipset significance: a domestic chipset means smartphones and navigation devices can be manufactured without depending on foreign GPS chipset imports. The Hyderabad-based company involved in production was not named in official releases.
• IRNSS: the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is the formal name; NavIC is the operational name chosen by the government.
• Dual frequency: NavIC operates on L5 and S bands, unlike GPS which uses L1 and L2. The S-band is unique and offers some interference resistance.

Static linkage: Science and technology, space applications.

GS area: Health, Science and Technology

The World Health Organisation recommended the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine for broad use.

• Developers: Oxford University's Jenner Institute and the Serum Institute of India (manufacturing). The adjuvant Matrix-M was developed by Novavax.
• Significance: this is the second malaria vaccine recommended by WHO. The first, RTS,S (Mosquirix), was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and recommended in 2021.
• Efficacy: R21/Matrix-M showed up to 77 per cent efficacy in Phase II trials and sustained efficacy in children in high-transmission settings.
• Target population: children in sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria burden is highest. WHO estimates malaria kills over 600,000 people annually; most victims are African children.
• Malaria parasite: Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest species and the one both vaccines target. P. vivax is more common globally but less fatal.
• Serum Institute of India: the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, headquartered in Pune.

Static linkage: Health, India in international organisations.

GS area: Health

Malaria remains a standard prelims topic. Key static facts:

• Causative agent: Plasmodium spp. (protozoan parasite).
• Vector: female Anopheles mosquito.
• Four species infecting humans: P. falciparum (most deadly), P. vivax (most common), P. malariae, P. ovale.
• Symptoms: fever with chills at 48-72 hour intervals depending on species; anaemia; splenomegaly.
• Drugs: Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) are the WHO-recommended first-line treatment. Chloroquine resistance has made older drugs less useful.
• India's burden: India accounts for roughly 2 per cent of global malaria cases but has seen a 97 per cent decline in deaths since 2000 according to the World Malaria Report.
• National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP): the nodal programme for malaria, dengue, chikungunya, kala-azar, lymphatic filariasis, and Japanese encephalitis in India.

Static linkage: Health, science topics.

GS area: Science and Technology, Environment

NASA formally concluded the 17-year CALIPSO mission.

• Partners: NASA and France's CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales).
• Technology: LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). The instrument emitted laser pulses and measured how light scattered off atmospheric particles.
• Achievements: recorded over 10 billion atmospheric measurements. Tracked cloud altitudes, dust, sea salt, volcanic ash, and soot at various heights.
• Key finding: documented how smoke from the 2020 Australian wildfires rose 15-20 km into the stratosphere. This was unexpected and showed that intense fires can inject particulates high enough to affect the upper atmosphere.
• CALIPSO: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation.

Static linkage: Science and technology, environment.

• Project Mariana: the Bank for International Settlements, in collaboration with central banks of France, Singapore, and Switzerland, successfully tested cross-border wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) transactions using a public blockchain with an Automated Market Maker mechanism for forex transactions.
• Online FIR: the 22nd Law Commission recommended amending Section 154 of the CrPC (now BNSS) to allow electronic FIR registration, starting with offences carrying a maximum of three years' imprisonment.
• IREDA upgrade: the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency was elevated from Schedule B to Schedule A public sector enterprise, positioning it for potential Navratna status.