DAILY ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME (DEP_ 0067)
Today’s Topics List:
NEET eligibility Percentile, Now ZEOR: Why? And its likely impact
Five Eyes Alliance
India – UN launch global capacity building initiative:
The issue of Nagorno Karabakh
Osiris-Rex space craft
Galactic Tides: Pushing and pulling the heavens
POLITY, GOVERNANCE & LAWS AND SCHEMES
NEET eligibility Percentile, Now ZEOR: Why? And its likely impact
Context:
- NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) is a national-level medical entrance examination in India used for admissions to postgraduate medical courses in various medical colleges across the country.
- Zero Percentile Eligibility: In a surprising announcement by the Medical Counselling Committee, the eligibility cut-off for postgraduate medical seats for the current year has been reduced to zero percentile.
- This means that anyone who has appeared for the NEET PG exam is technically eligible for admission to postgraduate medical courses.
- Unprecedented Decision: This is the first time since NEET replaced all other medical entrance tests in 2017 that the eligibility cut-off has been completely removed.
- Likelihood of Admission: While the eligibility cut-off has been set to zero, it’s important to note that seats will still be allotted based on rank.
- With around 2.25 lakh candidates appearing for NEET PG but only about 68,000 PG seats available in the country, not everyone who scores zero will necessarily secure a seat.
- Merit List Preparation: A merit list is prepared based on test scores for 50% of the PG seats at the all-India level.
- Similar merit lists are prepared by each state for the remaining 50% of seats.
- In case of ties, there are tiebreaker criteria such as more correct responses, fewer wrong responses, older age, and higher aggregate marks in MBBS exams.
- Historical Context: Before NEET, eligibility for PG courses was determined by MBBS final scores, so anyone who passed MBBS was eligible for PG courses.
- The recent decision to remove the eligibility cut-off is seen by some as a return to this previous system.
- Reason Behind the Decision: The main reason cited for this decision is to address the issue of vacant PG seats.
- In recent years, a significant number of PG seats have remained vacant, with 13,245 seats vacant for the current year.
- These vacancies are more pronounced in non-clinical disciplines.
- Impact of Increased PG Seats: The increase in the number of PG seats in recent years is considered one of the reasons behind the high number of vacancies.
- While it may seem beneficial in the short term, it could lead to a supply-demand mismatch in the long run.
- Impact on Private Medical Colleges: The expanded eligibility, while aimed at filling vacant seats, could potentially result in financially affluent students securing admissions in private medical colleges, even if they have lower scores.
- This could lead to a disparity where meritorious students with lower financial means are left behind.
- Way Forward: To address the issue of vacant PG medical seats and maintain fairness in admissions, authorities should focus on optimizing the allocation process, increasing the number of clinical seats, and implementing a balanced approach that considers both merit and economic factors, ensuring access to deserving candidates while preventing misuse of the system.
- Additionally, monitoring and reviewing the impact of these changes on both government and private medical colleges is essential to maintain equity in medical education.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Five Eyes Alliance
News:
- In the light of, recent India-Canada conflict the Five Eyes Alliance was in focus
- Alliance countries:
- “Five Eyes” refers to an intelligence-sharing alliance of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
- It originated as a post-World War II cooperation effort between the United States and the United Kingdom and was later expanded to include the other three countries.
- While the core Five Eyes alliance consists of the original five members, there are also other countries that have varying degrees of affiliation or cooperation with the alliance, such as the Nine Eyes (which includes Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Norway) and the Fourteen Eyes (which adds Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, and Spain, among others).
- Purpose of Alliance
- The primary purpose of the Five Eyes alliance is to collaborate on signals intelligence (SIGINT) gathering and analysis. This involves the interception and analysis of communication and electronic signals, which can include anything from phone calls and emails to internet traffic and other forms of electronic communication.
- Also, alliance seeks to promote security, counter-terrorism, and counter-espionage efforts among its member nations. It also aims to strengthen diplomatic and military ties between the participating countries.
India – UN launch global capacity building initiative:
Introduction:
- India and the United Nations have launched a collaborative initiative called the “India-UN Capacity Building Initiative” aimed at operationalizing development-related goals of India’s G20 Presidency.
- The initiative aims to share India’s development experiences, best practices, and expertise with partner countries in the Global South through capacity-building programs.
Operationalizing G20 Deliverables:
- This initiative will operationalize the development-relevant deliverables of India’s G20 Presidency, including the G20 Action Plan for Accelerating Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), technological transformation, and building Digital Public Infrastructure.
- It is seen as a significant contribution to global efforts to accelerate progress toward achieving the SDGs, with a focus on strengthening South-South Cooperation.
Inclusion of Global South in G20:
- India’s successful G20 Presidency is noted for including the voice of the Global South in the G20 agenda and facilitating the entry of the African Union into the grouping.
Key Components of the Initiative:
- The initiative will involve sharing India’s development experiences, best practices, and expertise through capacity building and training programs.
- The UN India team and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will collaborate to leverage India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation platform for sharing India’s development experiences worldwide.
Joint Declaration of Intent:
- At the launch event, a Joint Declaration of Intent was exchanged between the UN Resident Coordinator in India and the India representative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Complementary Efforts:
- The “India-UN Capacity Building Initiative” builds upon India’s existing bilateral cooperation in development and capacity-building with partner countries.
- It complements the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, which has initiated 75 development projects in 61 countries over the past six years.
Way forward:
- “India-UN Capacity Building Initiative” represents a strategic partnership between India and the United Nations to empower nations in the Global South with India’s development expertise, best practices, and capacity-building programs.
- It not only operationalizes India’s G20 Presidency goals but also reaffirms India’s commitment to fostering South-South Cooperation and advancing progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals on a global scale.
- The issue of Nagorno Karabakh
Background:
- The ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, are leaving for Armenia.
- They are motivated by their unwillingness to live under Azerbaijani control and concerns about potential ethnic cleansing.
- Armenia’s Prime Minister has expressed readiness to accept them following a recent defeat in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict:
- The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict is a dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is a mountainous region recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
- It is largely populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.
- The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is defined as the continuing military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ceasefire and Military Operation:
- A ceasefire was declared on September 20, after a swift military operation by the much larger Azerbaijani military.
- Azerbaijan has pledged to guarantee the rights of the Armenian population and integrate the region, but Armenians remain sceptical.
Armenian Leadership’s Statements:
- David Babayan, an adviser to the self-styled Republic of Artsakh, stated that the overwhelming majority of their people prefer to leave their historic lands.
- The Armenian leaders of Karabakh promised to assist all those made homeless by the Azerbaijani military operation in relocating to Armenia, with the help of Russian peacekeepers.
Movement of Population:
- Some Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh have already started moving to Armenia, with reports of heavily laden cars crossing the border.
- The exact timeline for the mass movement of the population through the Lachin corridor, which connects the region to Armenia, remains unclear.
- Armenian Prime Minister’s Address:
- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan acknowledged the arrival of humanitarian aid but expressed concerns about the potential for ethnic cleansing in Karabakh.
- Challenges and Calls for Resignation:
- Prime Minister Pashinyan has faced calls to resign due to his perceived failure to protect Karabakh during the recent conflict.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY & HEALTH
Osiris-Rex space craft
- News: NASA’s first asteroid samples fetched from deep space parachuted into the Utah desert on 24th September 2023 to cap a seven-year journey.
- It was done by the asteroid hunting spacecraft OSIRIS-Rex
- OSIRIS-Rex
- It stands for – Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer.
- It was launched in 2016, the first mission to collect a sample from an asteroid
- The sample is from asteroid Bennu which was brought to the earth for study
- Significance of study
- It helps to study history of our solar system
- Potential for asteroid impact on Earth
- Study of composition of asteroid
- Bennu
- Bennu is a near-Earth asteroid measuring approximately 492 meters in diameter.
- Bennu is categorized as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid due to its proximity to our planet, although the likelihood of an impact is low.
- Earlier NASA missions
- In 2004, the Genesis spacecraft delivered fragments of solar wind, but due to a parachute failure, the capsule’s impact with the ground led to the compromise of the samples.
- In 2006, the Stardust spacecraft effectively transported samples of comet dust to Earth.
- News: NASA’s first asteroid samples fetched from deep space parachuted into the Utah desert on 24th September 2023 to cap a seven-year journey.
Galactic Tides: Pushing and pulling the heavens
- Galactic tides, similar to Earth’s ocean tides, are large-scale gravitational phenomena within galaxies.
- They result from interactions between celestial objects like stars and gas clouds, significantly influencing a galaxy’s evolution.
- Galactic tides, similar to Earth’s ocean tides, are large-scale gravitational phenomena within galaxies.
Effects of Galactic Tides:
- Structural Reshaping: Galactic tides can reshape a galaxy’s structure by creating features such as tidal tails and bridges.
- Promotion of Star Formation: They promote star formation by compressing gas clouds, leading to the birth of new stars.
- Disruption of Smaller Star Systems: Tidal forces can disrupt smaller star systems and satellite galaxies over time.
- Orbital Changes: Over aeons, they cause long-term changes in the orbits of stars, altering the overall galactic structure.
- Interactions between Proximate Galaxies: Galactic tides influence the interactions between nearby galaxies.
Specific Observations:
- Closest Galaxy, Andromeda: Researchers have observed tidal streams near Andromeda’s edges, which may be remnants of dwarf galaxies that were absorbed by Andromeda.
- Future Collision: Andromeda is approaching the Milky Way at a speed of 110 km/s and is expected to collide with our galaxy in approximately four billion years.
Impact on Supermassive Black Holes:
- Galactic tides also affect supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies, leading to events that alter their interactions with nearby stars.
Way Forward:
- Understanding galactic tides is essential in the field of astronomy to gain insights into the intricate dynamics and evolution of galaxies over cosmological time scales.