1) Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Scheme: The NBS scheme is being implemented since 2010 by the Department of Fertilisers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.
- Under the scheme, fertilisers are provided at subsidised rates based on the nutrients contained, namely Nitrogen (N), Phosphate (P), Potash (K) and Sulphur (S). It does not include urea-based fertilisers.
- Moreover, fertilisers fortified with secondary nutrients and micronutrients (sulphur, zinc, boron, iron, manganese, and copper) are given additional subsidies.
- Farmers buy non-urea fertilisers at MRPs below their market rates. The Centre foots the difference as a subsidy. The subsidy under NBS goes to fertiliser companies, although its ultimate beneficiary is the farmer. Now it is done via DBT.
2) Urea: Urea is sold at statutorily notified uniform MRP.
- The difference between the delivered cost of urea to the farmer and net market realisation by the urea units is given as a subsidy to the urea manufacturer/importer by the Centre.
- Urea is not included in the NBS scheme and remains under price control (MRP is officially fixed). On the other hand, the MRPs of non-urea fertilisers under the NBS scheme are decontrolled (fixed by the companies). Thus, they retail way above urea while attracting lower subsidies. This has led the farmers to use more urea, worsening the fertiliser imbalance.
- Urea is a chemical nitrogen fertiliser, white in colour, which artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants.
3) Rapid Security Forces of Sudan: Trace its roots to the Janjaweed militias — a group of Arab tribes primarily based in western Sudan, including the contentious region of Darfur.
- Janjaweed militias called themselves horsemen and were used by the then Sudan government to help the army put down a rebellion.
- It was made into the RSF in 2013, and its forces were used as border guards in particular.
- In 2017, a law legitimizing the RSF as an independent security force was passed.
- The conflict between the army and RSF stems from a disagreement over how the RSF should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process.
4) Triple tests for surrogacy: The High Court of Karnataka has developed “triple tests” to help a couple facing legal hurdles have a child through altruistic surrogacy under provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021:
- Genetic test for the husband to ensure the child is not born with any disorder
- Physical test for a couple to ascertain their capacity to manage the child
- Economy tests for couples to ensure that they can protect the future of the child.
- Single individuals, same-sex couples, and foreigners are prohibited from availing of surrogacy services in India
5) Quantum computing: Quantum computers mimic the behaviour of atoms and subatomic particles to drastically increase processing speed.
- Superfluid: quantum processors need to be very cold – about a hundredth of a degree above absolute zero. To achieve this, we use super-cooled superfluid to create superconductors.
- Superposition: Groups of qubits in superposition can create complex, multidimensional computational spaces. Complex problems can be represented in new ways in these spaces.
- Entanglement is a quantum mechanical effect that correlates the behaviour of two separate things. When two qubits are entangled, changes to one qubit directly impact the other. Quantum algorithms leverage those relationships to find solutions to complex problems.
- Quantum computing involves qubits. Unlike a normal computer bit, which can be either 0 or 1, a qubit can exist in a multidimensional state.
