Daily Prelims Notes 1 May 2022

May 1, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

1 May 2022

Table Of Contents

Subject: Science and Tech

Section: Msc

Context- The Union government has constituted an expert panel to probe the recent series of battery explosions in electric vehicles (EVs).

Concept-

Manufacturers such as Okinawa and Pure EV have recalled some batches of electric scooters after their vehicles caught ﬁre.

What goes into a Li-ion battery?

lithium-ion battery cell consists of the following:
- Cathode: the positive terminal of the battery – typically based on a nickel, cobalt, and manganese-based oxide;
- Anode: the negative terminal of the battery – typically graphite
- Separator: a thin permeable polymer or similar that separates the cathode and anode
- Electrolyte: typically a salt of lithium in an inorganic solvent.
Battery manufacturing is a complex operation involving forming sheets of the anode and cathode and assembling them into a sandwich structure held apart by a thin separator.
Separators, about 15 microns in thickness — about a ﬁfth of the thickness of the human hair — perform the critical function of preventing the anode and cathode from shorting.
Accidental shorting of the electrodes is a known cause of ﬁres in Li-ion cells.

bits and pieces

What causes battery ﬁres?

Li-ion batteries are complex.
The energy density of petrol is ﬁve hundred times that of a typical Li-ion battery, However, batteries do store energy in a small package and if the energy is released in an uncontrolled fashion, the thermal event can be signiﬁcant.
Battery ﬁres, like other ﬁres, occur due to the convergence of three parts of the “ﬁre triangle”: heat, oxygen, and fuel.
If a short circuit occurs in the battery, the internal temperature can raise as the anode and cathode release their energy through the short.
This, in turn, can lead to a series of reactions from the battery materials.
Such events also rupture the sealed battery further exposing the components to outside air and the second part of the ﬁre triangle, namely, oxygen.
The ﬁnal component of the triangle is the liquid electrolyte, which is ﬂammable and serves as a fuel.
The combination leads to a catastrophic failure of the battery resulting in smoke, heat, and ﬁre, released instantaneously and explosively.
The trigger for such events can be a result of
- internal shorts (like a manufacturing defect that results in sharp objects penetrating the separator),
- external events (an accident leading to puncture of the cell and shorting of the electrodes),
- overcharging the battery which leads to heat releasing reactions on the cathode (by a faulty battery management system that does not shut down charging despite the battery achieving its designed charge state), or
- bad thermal design at the module and pack level (by not allowing the battery internal heat to be released).
Preventing ﬁres requires breaking the ﬁre triangle.
Battery cathodes are a leading cause of the heat release.
Some cathodes, such as ones with lower nickel content or moving to iron phosphate, can increase safety.

2. Zoonotic Diseases

Subject: Science & Tech

Section: Disease

Context- Coronavirus can spawn potential variants that can jump back to humans.

Concept-

The role of “animal reservoirs” in the spread of COVID-19 is still being studied but evidence of zoonosis, or the virus jumping from animals to humans, is growing.
Some experts supported the theory that the highly mutated Omicron variant emerged from animals, potentially rodents, rather than an immune-compromised human.
As the virus multiplies in infected hosts, it can mutate slightly, and over time, minor genomic tweaks in animals, could eventually add up to changes that make the virus more contagious or deadlier in people, or able to evade treatments and vaccines.
Flagging the concern, the World Health Organization (WHO) last month said the introduction of COVID to wildlife could result in the establishment of animal reservoirs of the virus.

What are Zoonotic Diseases?

Zoonosis refers to the transmission of diseases between animals and humans.
Such diseases are termed Zoonotic Diseases.
Zoonotic diseases range from mild to severe, while in extreme cases can even be fatal.
Zoonoses may be bacterial, viral, or parasitic, or may even involve unconventional agents for the transmission of the disease.
WHO in 1959 defined Zoonoses as “those diseases and infections which are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man.”
World Zoonoses Day is observed every year on July 6 to create awareness on zoonotic diseases, how to prevent them, and what actions to take when exposed.
COVID -19 is an example of a zoonotic disease which broke out in China’s Wuhan district in December 2019.

3. Climate change may increase risk of new infections

Subject: Environment

Section: Climate Change

Context- African, Asian nations face the greatest threat of increased virus exposure from animals to humans.

Concept-

Climate change will result in thousands of new viruses spread among animal species by 2070.
It is likely to increase the risk of emerging infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans, according to a new study.
This is especially true for Africa and Asia, continents that have been hotspots for deadly disease spread from humans to animals or vice versa over the last several decades, including the ﬂu, HIV, ebola and COVID-19.
Researchers found that if the world warms by 2 degree celsius, cross-species virus spread will happen over 4,000 times among mammals alone.
- Not all viruses will spread to humans or become pandemic like the scale of the coronavirus but the number of cross- species viruses increases the risk of spread to humans.
- The study highlights two global crises, climate change and infectious disease spread.
Previous research has looked at how deforestation, extinction and wildlife trade lead to animal-human disease spread, but there is less research about how climate change could inﬂuence this type of disease transmission.
Climate change can lead to Rise of Zoonotic diseases from animals to humans.

4. Rice Fortification

Subject: Science & Tech

Section: Biotechnology

Context- As many as 600 of the 900 major rice mills in Telangana have installed blending machines to add micronutrients to parboiled rice milled from paddy bought by them in the rabi season.

Concept-

Move comes in the wake of Food Corporation of India agreeing to buy only fortiﬁed parboiled rice from Telangana.

Fortification:

Fortification is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, Vitamin A & D to staple foods such as rice, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content.
These nutrients may or may not have been originally present in the food before processing.

Fortification of Rice:

Rice fortification is the practice of increasing the content of essential micronutrients in rice and to improve the nutritional quality of the rice.
Rice fortiﬁcation is done using extrusion technology.
- Fortiﬁed rice kernels are produced from a mixture using an extruder machine.
- These kernels are then blended with regular rice to produce fortiﬁed rice.
- The micronutrients that are used to blend included iron, folic acid and Vitamins D and B-12.
The fortiﬁcation of rice follows that of salt, oils, milk and wheat, which is in the Centre basket for micronutrient addition by 2024.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has formulated a comprehensive regulation on fortification of foods namely ‘Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2016’.
- These regulations set the standards for food fortification and encourage the production, manufacture, distribution, sale and consumption of fortified foods.
Rice is the world’s most important staple food. An estimated 2 billion people eat rice every day, forming the mainstay of diets across large of Asia and Africa.
Regular milled rice is low in micronutrients and serves primarily as a source of carbohydrate only. The fortification of rice is a major opportunity to improve nutrition.
Fortified rice contains Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Iron and Zinc.
According to the FSSAI norms, 1 kg fortified rice shall contain iron (28mg-42.5mg), folic acid (75-125 microgram) and Vitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 microgram). In addition, rice may also be fortified with micronutrients, singly or in combination, at the level– zinc(10mg-15mg), Vitamin A (500-750 microgram RE), Vitamin B1 (1mg-1.5mg), Vitamin B2 (1.25mg-1.75mg), Vitamin B3 (12.5mg-20mg) and Vitamin B6 (1.5mg-2.5mg) per Kg.

5. Wildfires In Himachal Pradesh

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

Context- The prolonged dry spell coupled with unusually high temperatures in recent days has triggered many wildfires in Himachal Pradesh, destroying several hectares of forest cover across many parts of the hill State.

Concept-

Till April 28 this year, as many as 719 incidents of forest fires have been reported across the State, affecting close to 5,662 hectares under forest circles of Shimla, Chamba, Bilaspur, Dharamshala, Hamirpur, Kullu Mandi, Rampur, Nahan and the Great Himalayan National Park at Shamshi in the Kullu region.
The early onset of summer this year in the hills posed a major challenge to the State government’s efforts to control forest fires and with dry weather conditions and high temperatures expected to continue, the task has become more difficult.
The maximum number of forest fires are human-generated — many accidental but a few deliberate ones. In several areas, there is a practice of burning the pasture lands to get rid of the dry leaf litter to ensure fresh grass growth for livestock.
Usually, when there is intermittent rainfall, such fires do not go out of control but when there’s prolonged dry weather, many of these fires go out of control.

About Wildfires:

Also called bush or vegetation fire or forest fire, it can be described as any uncontrolled and non-prescribed combustion or burning of plants in a natural setting such as a forest, grassland, brush land or tundra, which consumes the natural fuels and spreads based on environmental conditions (e.g., wind, topography).
Forest Fires can be incited by human actions, such as land clearing, extreme drought or in rare cases by lightning.
There are three conditions that need to be present in order for a wildfire to burn: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source.

Impact of WildFire:

Wildfires can have multiple adverse effects on the forest cover, soil, tree growth, vegetation, and the overall flora and fauna.
Fires render several hectares of forest useless and leave behind ash, making it unfit for any vegetation growth.
Heat generated during the fire destroys animal habitats.
Soil quality decreases with the alteration in their compositions.
Soil moisture and fertility, too, is affected.
Forests can shrink in size.
The trees that survive fire often remain stunted and growth is severely affected.

Indian State of Forest Report 2021 on Wildfires:

46% of the forest cover is prone to forest fires. Out of this, 2.81% is extremely prone, 7.85% is very highly prone and 11.51% is highly prone.
By 2030, 45-64% of forests in India will experience the effects of climate change and rising temperatures.
Forests in all states (except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland) will be highly vulnerable climate hot spots. Ladakh (forest cover 0.1-0.2%) is likely to be the most affected.

6. East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW)

Subject: Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context- A recent audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out illegal construction and violations of environmental norms in two Ramsar sites in West Bengal, the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) and the Sunderbans.

Concept-

The CAG report pointed out that failure to delineate boundaries of the EKW and uncontrolled transfer of land resulted in its change of character and lack of effective action by the EKWMA (East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority).
In absence of effective measures by EKWMA, waterbodies were dried up and filled illegally.
Since 2007, EKWMA has identified 357 cases of violation, out of which 101 cases were identified between December 2015 and March 2020, the audit said.

About East Kolkata Wetlands:

The East Calcutta Wetlands are a complex of natural and human-made wetlands lying east of the city of Calcutta (Kolkata), of West Bengal in India.
The EKW, a unique peri-urban ecosystem that lies on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, covers an area of about 12,500 hectares.
It is spread over 37 mouzas of the State’s South and North 24 Parganas districts.
The wetlands cover 125 square kilometres and include salt marshes, and agricultural fields, sewage farms and settling ponds.
The wetlands are also used to treat Kolkata’s sewage, and the nutrients contained in the wastewater sustain fish farms and agriculture.
The wetlands have been historically created by a natural shift of the Bidyadhari, a tributary of the Ganga.
The east Kolkata wetlands is the biggest ecological asset of the city and a Ramsar Site.
- A Ramsar Site is a wetland (shallow waters) which is designated to be of international importance under the Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO.
- It came into force in 1975 and takes its name from Ramsar, the Iranian city where the convention was adopted.

7. International Labour day

Subject: International relations

Section: Msc

International Labour Day also known as May Day is celebrated by organising marches.

Content:

The origin of Labour Day can be traced back to the United States of America in the 19th Century. May 1 in particular was chosen as the date to mark Labour Day to commemorate the nationwide strike for an eight-hour day in 1886 that began on May 1 and ended as the Haymarket affair in Chicago US.
The Haymarket affair refers to the tragic incident where a labour protest rally turned violent after someone threw a bomb at the police leading to the death of seven police officers and at least four civilians.

In 1889, the Second International, a body of socialist and labour parties, held a meeting in Paris, after French trade unionist Raymond Lavigne put forth a proposal calling for worldwide protests on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago demonstrations.

In 1890, May Day protests took place in the US and Europe. May Day was accorded the stature of a formal annual event at another meeting of the Second International in 1891.