Daily Prelims Notes 11 August 2021

August 11, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

11 August 2021

Table Of Contents

Subject: Geography

Context: Thousands of people have fled parts of the Greek island of Evia and Athens due to raging uncontrolled wildfires.

While wildfires are common in some parts of the world during the summer season, concern is rising about recent such blazes that have wreaked havoc in Australia, western US and now the Mediterranean.

About Wildfires

Wildfires or forest fires occur during hot and dry seasons. Since dry leaves, shrubs, grass and deadwood are easily combustible, they are easy to ignite.
Ignition can either happen naturally, such as through lightning strikes, or triggered accidentally, such as from cigarette stubs, to clear land or to control an incoming forest fire by removing vegetation that would provide more fuel to it.

Impacts of Wildfires:

Wildfires release large amounts of carbon dioxide, black carbon, brown carbon, and ozone precursors into the atmosphere. These emissions affect radiation, clouds, and climate on regional and even global scales.
But the fires also release nutrients into the soil and are an important part of ecological succession, plant germination, and soil enhancement.
As per the latest report of the IPCC a global increase in average temperatures can lead to more intense heat waves. Therefore, increasingly warm and dry weather conditions resulting from climate change can lead to more extreme fires and more extreme fire seasons.

About Evia Island:

Also called Euboea, it is Greece’s second-largest island in area and population, after Crete.
It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait.
It is a rugged long and narrow island of forests and covers almost touching the Greek mainland.

About Athens:

It is the capital and largest city of Greece.
Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world’s oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years.
Classical Athens was a powerful city-state and was a center for the arts, learning and philosophy, and the home of Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum.
It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely because of its cultural and political impact on the European continent particularly Ancient Rome.

2. Inflation

Subject: Geography

In news: There Visible signs of economic rejuvenation and reduced inflation pressures: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The inflation is cooling down to 5.78 percent in July, after hovering around the 6.25-6.3 percent-mark in May-June.
The net market borrowing of the Centre and states is lower than the last fiscal.
A robust recovery in tax collections has been witnessed over the past couple of months.

Inflation & its causes in current scenario:

Inflation refers to the rise in the prices of most goods and services of daily or common use, such as food, clothing, housing, recreation, transport, consumer staples, etc.
Inflation is indicative of the decrease in the purchasing power of a unit of a country’s currency. This could ultimately lead to a deceleration in economic growth.
However, a moderate level of inflation is required in the economy to ensure that production is promoted.
Current causes:
- Inflation in India is being imported through a combination of high commodity prices and high asset price inflation caused by ultra loose monetary policy followed across the globe.
- Foreign portfolio investors have directed a portion of the liquidity towards our markets. Compared to a developed capital market such as that of the U.S., India has a relatively low market capitalisation. It, therefore, cannot absorb the enormous capital inflow without asset prices inflating.
- Additionally, supply chain bottlenecks have contributed to inflation. Essential goods have increased in cost due to scarce supply because of these bottlenecks caused by COVID-19 and its reactionary measures enforced.
- India’s taxation policy on fuel has made things worse. Rising fuel prices percolate into the economy by increasing costs for transport. Furthermore, the increase in fuel prices will also lead to a rise in wages demanded as the monthly expense of the general public increases. This leads to the dangerous cycle of inflation and depleting growth.

3. Carbon Budget

Subject: Environment

Context: The world can emit approximately 400 billion tonnes more of carbon dioxide before hitting the 1.5°C limit, as per the IPCC sixth Assessment report.

More about the Report:

The world currently emits about 40 GtCO2 annually.
The AR6 showed that the world can emit only about 500 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO2) starting January 1, 2020 for a 50 percent chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C. For a 67 percent chance of avoiding 1.5°C, the budget will come down to 400 GtCO2.
For a 50 percent chance of limiting temperatures to 2°C, the world can emit 1,350 GtCO2; and 1,150 GtCO2 for a 67 per cent chance.
Current trends also point to wealthy countries like the United States, the European Union and China eating into a disproportionate share of the budget while developing countries are left with negligible ‘carbon space’ to improve their standards of living.
Economic growth is still inextricably linked to a rise in energy demand, which leads to higher emissions despite dubious claims of ‘green growth’ and decoupling of gross domestic product and energy use / emissions.

Carbon Budget:

A carbon budget is a cumulative amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions permitted over a period of time to keep within a certain temperature threshold.
It is the maximum amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that can be emitted while still having a chance to limit warming to 1.5°C or 2°C.
Carbon budgets are constructed on the premise that there is a near-linear relationship between rising global temperatures and the level of cumulative atmospheric CO2.
Carbon budgets are complex estimates and are typically subject to several uncertainties such as the effect of
- non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHG) [methane and nitrous oxide];
- the cooling effect of aerosols;
- Earth-system feedbacks such as carbon released by thawing permafrost that were generally not included in climate models.

4. Inland Vessel Bill 2021

Subject: Geography

Context: The Inland Vessels Bill, 2021 replaces the Inland Vessels Act, 1917. It seeks to bring all inland waterways in India and movement of vessels on them for any purpose under a central regulatory regime.

National Waterways

In 2016, the government notified 111 inland waterways as National Waterways of India under the National Waterways Act, 2016. Of these, 13 National Waterways are operational for shipping and navigation and cargo/passenger vessels are moving on them, according to the government.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India under the Ministry of Shipping is developing the National Waterways for commercial navigation, including with assistance from the World Bank.
National Waterways 1 or NW1
- It starts from Allahabad (Prayagraj) to Haldia with a distance of 1620 km.
- The NW 1 runs through the Ganges, Bhagirathi, and Hooghly river system.
- It is the longest National Waterway in India.

National Waterways 2
- It is a stretch on the Brahmaputra River from Sadia to Dhubri in Assam state.
- The NW 2 is one of the major freight transportation waterways of northeast India and the third-longest Waterways with a total length of 891 km.

National waterways 3 or the West Coast Canal
- It is located in Kerala state and runs from Kollam to Kottapuram.
- The 205 km long West Coast Canal is India’s first waterway with an all-time navigation facility.

National Waterway 4
- It is connected from Kakinada to Pondicherry through Canals, Tank, and River Godavari along with Krishna river.
- The NW 4 the second-longest waterway of India with a total length of 1095 km in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

National Waterway 5
- It connects Orissa to West Bengal using the stretch on Brahmani River, East Coast Canal, Matai river, and Mahanadi River Delta.
- The 623 km long canal system will handle the traffic of cargo such as coal, fertilizer, cement, and iron.

National waterway 6
- It is the proposed waterway in Assam state and will connect Lakhipur to Bhanga in river Barak.
- The 121 km long waterway will help in trading between the town of Silchar to Mizoram State.

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)

It was constituted in October 1986, for the development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation.
The Authority undertakes various infrastructure development works on national waterways.
It also carries out feasibility studies and prepares proposals for declaration of other waterways as National Waterways.
It also assists States in development of the IWT sector and provides subsidies to IWT operators for acquiring IWT fleet for transportation of cargo and passengers.
Its headquarters is located in Noida, UP.

5. Heterologous boosting

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: Mixing Covishield and Covaxin, the two main vaccines against Covid-19 in use in India, has found by a new ICMR study to be safe and also to provide better immunity.

Concept:

Heterologous boosting

The idea of heterologous boosting initially emerged in Europe,.
Vaccine platforms may vary in their ability to induce antibody and T-cell response
If one platform induces a predominantly antibody response, experts say it can be followed by a platform that induces predominantly a T cell response (e.g. vector and DNA vaccines Such heterologous strategies are being studied in HIV, malaria, flavivirus (e.g. dengue), HPV, Ebola and influenza.

Mixing Covishield and Covaxin

Covishield is an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine, while Covaxin is an inactivated whole virus vaccine.
This study demonstrates that immunisation with a heterologous combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine followed by an inactivated whole virus vaccine is safe and elicits better immunogenicity than two doses of homologous vaccination, using the same vaccines
Covishield will trigger only an anti-spike protein response (and of course anti -adenovirus response). Covaxin used as a booster in principle should boost anti-spike response further and generate a primary response against all other SARS-CoV-2 proteins which are part of the Covaxin preparation
The ICMR data in the preprint shows that heterologous vaccination can indeed trigger an anti-N-protein response due to a boost with Covaxin. However further data will be needed to state that heterologous vaccination strategy for Covishield and Covaxin combination is useful

Impact

According to the World Health Organization, there is currently limited data on the immunogenicity or efficacy of a “mix and match” regimen.
Experts caution that mixing should not be randomly done but should be based on understanding multiple issues.

6. Bitcoin mining

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: Minister of State for Finance Ministry Pankaj Chaudhary also informed the Lok Sabha that “the government does not collect data on environmental impact due to mining of cryptocurrency.”

Concept:

Crypto investments in India grew from $923 million in April 2020 to $6.6 billion in May 2021 – a 615 per cent jump, according to a recent study by blockchain data platform Chainalysis.

How Bitcoin mining works?

Bitcoin mining is a process of creating a new coin that involves using computers to solve complex mathematical algorithms or puzzles. The cryptocurrencies are based on a decentralized network that needs to be mined.
The software that mines bitcoin is designed to take on average about 10 minutes for those on the network to solve the complex program and process a block.

Impact of Bitcoin mining

The process ends up using a massive chunk of electricity as giant and powerful systems are used by miners to mine blocks and verify transactions. The vast majority of Bitcoin’s energy consumption happens during the mining process.
Mining for the cryptocurrency often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels. As bitcoin price rises, so does the energy consumption.
Environmentalists have also warned that carbon emissions from power-intensive bitcoin mining could harm sustainability efforts.
An index complied by Digiconomist that publishes estimates of bitcoin’s climate impact showed also that it consumes an estimate of around 115 Twh per year. A study by the research platform stated that the Bitcoin network could consume as much energy as all data centers globally, with an associated carbon footprint matching London’s footprint size.
Bitcoin could alone produce enough carbon dioxide emissions to push global warming above 2 °C within less than three decades. Most – some 65% – mining facilities are located in regions that rely on (highly polluting) coal-based facilities or hydroelectricity, which are cheap and little taxed
Bitcoin’s accounts for the e-waste output resulting from mining equipment being disposed of.

7. Prices of petrol and diesel

Subject: Economy

Context: Prices of petrol and diesel have remained unchanged for 24 days now, even though Brent price has dropped below $70 barrel

Concept:

Increase will not benefit the Centre much because the excise duty on petrol and diesel is a specific tax, charged on the number of units sold.
Most States however calculate sales tax/VAT on petrol and diesel on ad valorem basis, based on the sale value (however some goes for specific duty structure), thus gaining from the increase in the prices. Ex- Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh

Pricing in India

The pricing of petrol and diesel in India is based on the sour grade (Oman and Dubai average) and sweet grade (Brent Dated) crude oil processed in Indian refineries in the ratio of 75.62: 24.38
The basic sic value of crude accounts for around 36 per cent of the final cost of petrol (in Delhi). Freight charges and dealer commissions account for around 4 per cent. The remaining 60 per cent of the retail price of petrol and 54 per cent of diesel goes to the Centre and States as taxes.
The basic excise duty is ₹ 1.40, special additional excise duty ₹ 11, agriculture, infrastructure and development cess ₹50 and additional excise duty (road and infrastructure cess) ₹18.
The excise duty and cess on diesel are also similarly linked to the quantity sold and not the value. While this helps the Centre protect its revenue in periods when crude oil prices decline, it caps the income when prices increase.

8. Illegal migrant

Subject: Polity

Context: There are reports of some Rohingya migrants indulging in illegal activities, according to a written reply from the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday

Concept:

Under the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and the subsequent 1967 Protocol, the word refugee pertains to any person who is outside their country of origin and unable or unwilling to return owing to well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
Stateless persons may also be refugees in this sense, where country of origin (citizenship) is understood as ‘country of former habitual residence’.
Under the Citizenship Act an “illegal migrant” is defined as a foreigner who has entered into India—
- Without a valid passport or other travel documents and such other document or authority as may be prescribed by or under any law in that behalf; or
- with a valid passport or other travel documents and such other document or authority as may be prescribed by or under any law in that behalf but remains therein beyond the permitted period of time.
An illegal migrant is excluded from the acquisition of citizenship through birth, registration, or naturalization. There is no program to grant citizenship to illegal migrants or their children.

India & UN convention

India has welcomed refugees in the past, and on date, nearly 300,000 people here are categorised as refugees.
But India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and the subsequent 1967 Protocol.
Nor does India have a refugee policy or a refugee law of its own.
The closest India has come to a refugee policy in recent years is the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, which discriminates between refugees on the basis of religion in offering them Indian citizenship.
All foreign nationals (including refuge seekers) are governed by the provisions contained in the Foreigners Act, 1946; the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Citizenship Act, 1955, and rules and orders made thereunder

9. Census

Subject: Polity

Context: Owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Census 2021 and other Census-related field activities have been postponed until further orders, the Union Home Ministry said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Concept:

About Census

The census provides information on size, distribution and socio-economic, demographic and other characteristics of the country’s population.
During the regime of the Mughal king Akbar, the administrative report ‘Ain-e-Akbari’ included comprehensive data pertaining to population, industry, wealth and many other characteristics.
A systematic and modern population census, in its present form was conducted non synchronously between 1865 and 1872 in different parts of the country.
However, the first synchronous census in India was held in 1881. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten years.

Census 2021

In the Census, data is collected on demographic and various socio-economic parameters like education, SC/ ST, religion, language, marriage, fertility, disability, occupation and migration of the individuals. The forthcoming Census is to be the first digital Census and there is a provision for self-enumeration
A mobile application for data collection and a Census portal for managing and monitoring various Census related activities have been developed.
The individual data collected in Census under the Census Act, 1948, are not made public as per the provisions contained in the Act. The individual data are not used for the preparation of any other database, including the National Register of Citizens. Only the aggregated Census data at various administrative levels are released
In the Census, the castes and tribes which are specifically notified as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) as per the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, as amended from time to time, are enumerated

10. Ujjwala 2.0

Subject: Government Schemes

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the second phase of the Ujjwala gas connection scheme for the poor, and said that it would provide the biggest relief to lakhs of migrant worker families in the country.

Concept:

Under the scheme, an adult woman belonging to a poor family not having LPG connection in her household, is an eligible beneficiary under the expanded scheme. It is to provide LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) connections to poor households.
A deposit-free LPG connection is given to the eligible household with financial assistance of Rs 1,600 per connection by the Centre.
Release of LPG connection under this Scheme shall be in the name of the women belonging to the BPL family.
The scheme will cover BPL families under all forms of distributorship and for various sizes of cylinders (like 14.2 kg, 5 kg, etc.) depending on f the field situation.
The connection shall be issued by the OMC to the eligible beneficiaries by matching with SECC – 2011 database
LPG infrastructure has expanded manifold in the country due to the Ujjwala scheme.
In the last six years, more than 11,000 new LPG distribution centres have opened across the country.
The LPG coverage in India is now very close to becoming 100 per cent.
Under Ujjwala 2.0 (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana), migrant workers would no longer have to struggle to get address proof documents to get the gas connections.
Only self-declaration Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection

11. Quality of Life for Elderly Index

Subject: Government Schemes

Context: Quality of Life for Elderly Index was released by Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

Concept:

The Index has been created by the Institute for Competitiveness at the request of EAC-PM and it sheds light on an issue often not mentioned- problems faced by the elderly.
The report identifies the regional patterns of ageing across Indian States and assesses the overall ageing situation in India. The report presents a deeper insight into how well India is doing to support the well-being of its ageing population.
The Index framework includes four pillars: Financial Well-being, Social Well-being, Health System and Income Security, and eight sub-pillars
This index broadens the way we understand the needs and opportunities of the elderly population in India.
It goes far beyond the adequacy of pensions and other forms of income support, which, though critical, often narrows policy thinking and debate about the needs of this age group.
The index highlights that the best way to improve the lives of the current and future generations of older people is by investing in health, education and employment for young people today

Highlights from the Report:

The Health System pillar observes the highest national average at an all-India level, followed by in Social Well-being. Financial Well-being
States have performed particularly worse in the Income Security pillar because over half of the States have a score below the national average,
Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh are top-scoring regions in Aged and Relatively Aged States, respectively. Chandigarh and Mizoram are top-scoring regions in Union Territory and North-East States category. The Aged States refer to States with an elderly population of more than 5 million, whereas Relatively Aged States refer to States with an Elderly population of less than 5 million.

12. SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated a scheme “SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise”, which includes subschema – ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’.

Concept:

A scheme “SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise” formulated which includes sub scheme – ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’.
Focus of the scheme is on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, basic documentation, education, skill development, economic linkages etc.
Pilot projects initiated on Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Persons engaged in the act of Begging in ten cities namely Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna and Ahmadabad.
This scheme covers several comprehensive measures including welfare measures for persons who are engaged in the act of begging. The scheme would be implemented with the support of State/UT Governments/Local Urban Bodies, Voluntary Organizations, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) institutions and others.
Scheme provides for the use of the shelter homes available with the State/UT Governments and Urban local bodies for rehabilitation of the persons engaged in the act of Begging.
In case of non-availability of existing shelter homes, new dedicated shelter homes are to be set up by the implementing agencies. Under this Scheme, funds allocated for the next five years

13. Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP)

Subject: Government Schemes

Context: Government is implementing Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP)/Schedule Tribe Component (STC)/Development Action Plan for Development of Scheduled Tribes (DAPSTs) for overall development of tribal people across the country including North Eastern Region (NER).

Concept:

Tribal Sub-Plan came into existence in 1974-75 as a strategy for the development of areas having tribal concentration. After merger of Plan and Non-Plan, the TSP was renamed as Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) by Ministry of Finance. 41 Central Ministries / Departments have been identified for earmarking of STC.
Besides, State Governments are supposed to earmark TSP funds in proportion to ST population (Census 2011) in the State with respect to total State Plan. The monitoring of TSP plan was being done by erstwhile Planning Commission till 2017-18, it was only in FY 2018-19, the monitoring of STC plan was given to Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
The Government allocates funds for different schemes/programmes across Ministries/ Departments for targeted financial and physical benefits to the Scheduled Tribes. Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched an online portal – Scheduled Tribe Component Management Information System (STCMIS) in 2018. The portal monitors the funds allocated/released for welfare of Scheduled Tribes in Union Budget.
The basic objective of Schedule Tribe Component is to channelize/monitor the flow of outlays and benefits from the general sectors in the Central Ministries/Departments for the development of Schedules Tribes at least in proportion to their population.
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region as per its TSP mandate of 27.18% expenditure of its scheme, by implementing a number of projects in the physical infrastructure relating to water supply, power, connectivity, specially the projects promoting tourism and social sector for creation of infrastructure in the areas of primary and secondary sectors of education and health, resulting upliftment of the tribal population in the NER.