9 March 2024

• Economy: India's February 2024 CPI data release was due on 12 March; anticipatory analysis focused on food inflation trends and the RBI's stance heading into the April MPC meeting.
• Governance: The Tobacco Board set Karnataka's crop size at 100 million kg for 2024-25, amid India's position as the world's second-largest tobacco producer.
• Science: Discussion of the Obelisks discovery continued, with researchers noting the circular genetic entities were found in 7 per cent of gut microbiome datasets and over 50 per cent of oral microbiome samples.
• Environment: Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha remained in news after authorities discovered illegal poppy cultivation within its boundaries.

GS area: Economy (agriculture), Governance

The Tobacco Board set a crop size of 100 million kg for Karnataka for the 2024-25 season. Facts to retain:

• Tobacco Board: a statutory body established in 1976, headquartered at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. It functions under the Department of Commerce (not Agriculture).
• India's position: second-largest tobacco producer in the world and fourth-largest exporter as of 2021.
• Major producing states: Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the primary flue-cured Virginia tobacco producing states. Andhra Pradesh dominates, with Guntur district at the centre.
• Health angle: India has over 250 million tobacco users. Tobacco is a major public health burden under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke.

Static linkage: Economy (agriculture, regulatory bodies), health.

GS area: Science and Technology

Stanford University researchers published findings on a new class of biological entity found in the human gut and oral microbiome:

• Definition: microscopic circular genetic elements forming rod-like structures (hence "obelisks") when folded.
• Size: contain only one or two genes.
• Position: between viruses and viroids in complexity. Viroids have no proteins; obelisks appear to encode a protein called Oblins.
• Host: likely depend on bacteria or fungi for replication, unlike viruses that use mammalian cells.
• Prevalence: found in approximately 7 per cent of gut microbiome datasets and over 50 per cent of oral microbiome samples studied.

Their significance for human health is not yet known. The discovery expands the known catalogue of genetic entities in the human body.

Static linkage: Science and technology (biology).

GS area: Environment, Internal security

Police discovered illegal poppy cultivation within Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha. Plants found: 1,54,980, valued at approximately Rs 3 crore. Key facts about the reserve:

• Established: 1956 as a wildlife sanctuary; designated a Project Tiger site in 1973 and a biosphere reserve in 1994.
• UNESCO status: part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
• Location: Mayurbhanj district, Odisha. Part of the Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve.
• Indigenous communities: Erenga Kharias and Mankirdias tribes live in the core area.
• Poppy cultivation in India: legally restricted to notified tracts in three states only: Madhya Pradesh (Mandsaur district), Rajasthan (Chittorgarh and Jhalawar) and Uttar Pradesh. Any cultivation outside these areas is illegal under the NDPS Act 1985.

Static linkage: Environment (tiger reserves), internal security (narcotics).

GS area: Economy (monetary policy)

The Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Committee held its last meeting for FY2023-24 in February 2024, when it kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent. The April 2024 meeting would be the first of FY2024-25. Context:

• Monetary Policy Committee (MPC): a six-member body comprising three RBI officials (including the Governor as chairperson) and three external members appointed by the government.
• Mandate: maintain CPI inflation at 4 per cent with a tolerance band of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
• Repo rate: the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks. Has been unchanged since February 2023.
• Stance: the MPC maintained a "withdrawal of accommodation" stance to ensure inflation returned durably to target.

Static linkage: Economy (monetary policy, RBI).

• North Atlantic Right Whale crisis: a new study confirmed that smaller female right whales produce fewer calves. Body length directly influences breeding probability. The population decline is linked to reduced food availability from climate change. Commercial whaling was banned in 1935; the species remains critically endangered with fewer than 360 individuals.
• Blue Leaders Alliance: a 24-country coalition committed to protecting 30 per cent of global ocean area through highly protected marine areas by 2030. It aligns with the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty. India endorsed the treaty at the G20 New Delhi Declaration in 2023.
• ANAGRANINF project: an India-Spain collaboration under the Technology Development Board to develop novel antibiotics against gram-negative bacterial infections. Addresses antimicrobial resistance, a growing global health emergency.