UPSC Prelims Bits For Today July 08, 2022 | Daily Important Current Affairs For UPSC Prelims

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”UPSC Prelims Bits For Today” is every day published in the morning between 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and contains selective current affairs articles. ”UPSC Prelims Bits For Today” covers various topics from UPSC Prelims Syllabus and is very helpful and time managing for UPSC Aspirants. The framing of this daily current affairs compilation article is easy to read and understandable also.

In the ”UPSC Prelims Bits For Today” article, we focus on UPSC Preliminary exam-oriented current affairs covering various sections from leading National Newspapers, PIB, and other various official sources.

Nitrate Absorption in Plants

In News

Researchers led by those from the National Centre of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru (NCBS-TIFR), have found a new pathway that regulates nitrate absorption in plants.

Importance Of Nitrogen

Nitrogen is one of the most important macronutrients needed for the development of a plant. It is a part of chlorophyll, amino acids and nucleic acids, among others.
It is mostly sourced from the soil where it is mainly absorbed in the form of nitrates and ammonium by the roots.
Nitrates also play a role in controlling genome-wide gene expression that in turn regulates root system architecture, flowering time, leaf development, etc.
Thus, while a lot of action takes place in the roots to absorb and convert nitrogen into useful nitrates, the absorbed nitrates in turn regulate plant development apart from being useful as a macronutrient.

How Nitrate overuse could be harmful?

The overuse of nitrates in fertilizers, for instance, can lead to the dumping of nitrates in the soil which leads to accumulation of nitrates in water and soil.
This accumulation adds to soil and water pollution and increased the contribution to greenhouse gases.

Monsoon getting hotter than summer

In News

The monsoon has usually meant respite from the heat, but temperatures during these months — June to September — are seeing a rise, says an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an environment group

Key Findings

This year, India saw record pre-monsoon temperatures in northern and western regions, in the absence of rain.
At an all-India level, average temperatures during the season are 0.3 degrees Celsius higher than the average summer temperatures (March to May) when compared from 1951 to 1980. In the past decade, 2012-2021, this anomaly has risen to 0.4 degrees Celsius.
India’s average temperature has risen 0.62 degrees Celsius from 1901 to 2020, according to India Meteorological Department records.
The average daily maximum temperature for March and April for Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — as per IMD classification — was almost 4 degrees Celsius above normal (compared to its baseline of 1981-2010).
This is almost twice as much as the anomaly observed at an all-India level, and it holds true for even average daily minimum, daily mean and land surface temperatures, the CSE noted. Temperatures became closer to normal during May.

Amitabh Kant to be India’s new G20 Sherpa

Who is a Sherpa?

A Sherpa is typically a personal representative of the leader of a member nation at the G20 and some other groupings. The Sherpa usually engages in planning, negotiation and implementation of tasks through the G20 Summit. They help prepare the agenda, drum up consensus at the highest levels, and take part in a series of pre-summit consultations to negotiate their leaders’ positions.

About G20

The group of 20 top economies together make up more than 80% of global GDP, 75% of world trade and 60% of the population.

When will India host G20 Summit?

India will host the G20 Summit from December 1, 2022 and will convene the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2023 for the first time, according to the ministry of external affairs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been leading India’s representation at G20 Summits since 2014. India has been a member of the G20 since the grouping’s inception in 1999.

IMF’s wall of former chief economists

In News

India-born Gita Gopinath became the first woman and second Indian to feature on the ‘wall of former chief economists of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Indians who featured on the ‘wall of former chief economists’?

The first Indian to achieve the honour was Raghuram Rajan who was Chief Economist and Director of Research of IMF between 2003 and 2006.
Gopinath was appointed as IMF Chief Economist in October 2018 and was later promoted as the IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director in December last year.

BA.2.75

In News

The World Health Organization has now confirmed that a new variant of Omicron is circulating in India. The sub-lineage strain has now been designated as BA.2.75.
Elaborating about the new sub-variant, WHO’s Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has said that it is too early to say anything because very limited sequencing data is available.

Cause Of Concern

The South-East Asia Region has been reporting an increasing trend in cases since early June, with over 157,000 new cases reported, a 20% increase as compared to the previous week.
Five of 10 countries (50 per cent) for which data are available showed increases in the number of new cases of 20% or greater, with the greatest proportional increases observed in Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (112,456 new cases, an increase of 21 per cent), Thailand (15,950, an increase of 6 per cent) and Bangladesh (13,516 new cases, a 53 per cent increase).