Daily Prelims Notes 12 October 2020

October 12, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: Government Schemes

Context: PM launches physical distribution of property cards under SWAMITVA scheme.

The move will pave the way for villagers to use property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits

Concept:

Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme aims to map residential land ownership in the rural sector using modern technology like the use of drones.
It will create property ownership record of land in villages and empower rural population with grant of official document confirming their ownership of land titles.
Measurement: The residential land in villages will be measured using drones to create a non-disputable record. It is the latest technology for surveying and measuring of land. Drones will draw a digital map of every property falling within the geographical limits of a village and demarcate the boundaries of every revenue area.
The scheme will be carried out in close coordination with the Central Panchayati Raj ministry, Survey of India, Panchayati Raj departments and Revenue departments of various states.
Property card: Property card for every property in the village will be prepared by states using accurate measurements delivered by drone-mapping.
These cards will be given to property owners and will be recognised by the land revenue records department.
The scheme is piloted by the Panchayati Raj ministry of the Union government.
The property records for a village will also be maintained at the Panchayat level, allowing for the collection of associated taxes from the owners.
The money generated from these local taxes will be used to build rural infrastructure and facilities.

2. FELUDA

Subject: Science and tech

Context: Union Health Minister announced that a paper strip test for COVID-19, named Feluda, will be commercially launched within next few weeks.

Concept:

Feluda is the acronym for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay.
It is an accurate and low-cost paper-based test strip to detect Covid-19 in less than 30 minutes.
It was approved recently for commercial launch by the Drugs Controller General of India.
Developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Tata Group.
It uses indigenously developed CRISPR gene-editing technology to identify and target the genetic material of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

Significance:

According to CSIR, the test matches accuracy levels of RT-PCR tests.
It has a quicker turnaround time and requires less expensive equipment.
‘Feluda’ is also the world’s first diagnostic test to deploy a specially adapted Cas9 protein to successfully detect the virus.

3. BLUE FLAG CERTIFICATION

Subject: Environment

Context: India received the prestigious ‘Blue Flag’ certification for all its eight beaches that it recommended, the environment ministry said.

The beaches which have been awarded the certification are Shivrajpur in Gujarat, Ghoghla in Diu, Kasarkod and Padubidri in Karnataka, Kappad in Kerala, Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh, Golden in Odisha and Radhanagar in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Concept :

It is an international recognition conferred on beaches that meet certain criteria of cleanliness and environmental propriety.
The ‘Blue Flag’ beach is an ‘eco-tourism model’ and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment and sustainable development of the area.
The Blue Flag Programme was started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987 and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
The certification is accorded by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education(International non profit organisaiton) with 33 stringent criteria under four major heads for the beaches, that are-

Environmental Education and Information

Bathing Water Quality

Environment Management and Conservation

Safety and Services

Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395 Blue Flag beaches, respectively.
Previously, Japan and South Korea are the only countries in the south and southeastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches. Now , India has also blue flag beaches.

4. GIGA FACTORIES

Subject: Economy

Context: Battery Companies are keen to setup advanced Giga factories in India.

Concept :

Elon Musk is believed to have first coined the term ‘Gigafactory’. In simpler terms, these are huge advanced manufacturing units.

In India,

Recently, the LIBCOIN consortium with Magnis Energy Technologies Limited holding 20 percent of non-dilutive ownership along with state-owned BHEL finalised a deal with the Government of India, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, to build ‘India’s first Lithium-ion Battery Gigafactory’.

5. HYDRODEN FUEL CELLS

Subject : Science and tech

How does hydrogen fuel cell work?

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen in the case of Hydrogen Fuel Cell) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions.
A Fuel Cell consists of an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte that allows ions, often positively charged hydrogen ions (protons), to move between the two sides of the fuel cell.
A fuel cell converts chemical potential energy (energy stored in molecular bonds) into electrical energy.
A PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) cell uses hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen gas (O2) as fuel.
The products of the reaction in the cell are water, electricity, and heat.
This is a big improvement over internal combustion engines, coal burning power plants, and nuclear power plants, all of which produce harmful by-products.
Since O2 is readily available in the atmosphere, we only need to supply the fuel cell with H2 which can come from an electrolysis process (see Alkaline electrolysis or PEM electrolysis).

Source: Wikipedia.org

Advantages of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology:

By converting chemical potential energy directly into electrical energy, fuel cells avoid the “thermal bottleneck” (a consequence of the 2nd law of thermodynamics) and are thus inherently more efficient than combustion engines, which must first convert chemical potential energy into heat, and then mechanical work.
Direct emissions from a fuel cell vehicle are just water and a little heat. This is a huge improvement over the internal combustion engine’s litany of greenhouse gases.
Fuel cells have no moving parts. They are thus much more reliable than traditional engines.
Hydrogen can be produced in an environmentally friendly manner, while oil extraction and refining is very damaging.

6. IN-SPACe

Subject: Science and tech

Context: Government has announced a new organisation, IN-SPACe, part of reforms to increase private participation in the space sector. IN-SPACe is the second space organisation created by the government in the last two years

Concept:

Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre(IN-SPACe) will act as a single-point interface between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and everyone who wants to participate in space-related activities, or use India’s space resources. It will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.
Indian National Space Promotion Board: It would be set up to strengthen the Department of Space and for the promotion of the private space entrepreneurs or non-government space entrepreneurs,
Role of ISRO: The overall idea is to let ISRO concentrate on essential activities like research and development, planetary exploration, and strategic use of space, while freeing itself from ancillary or routine work which could easily be done by private industry.
Demand Driven Model: By the support of New Space India Limited (NSIL), It would endeavour to reorient space activities from a ‘supply driven’ model to a ‘demand driven’ one, thereby ensuring optimum utilisation of the nation’s space assets.
The main objective of NSIL is to scale up industry participation in Indian space programmes in comparison to IN-SPACe which gives emphasis on the participation of the private sector.

New Space India Limited

NSIL is a Central Public Sector Enterprise of the Government of India.
It was established in 2019 under the administrative control of the Department of Space headquartered at Bengaluru.
NSIL is the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the primary responsibility of enabling Indian industries to take up high technology space related activities

7. RED SANDERS

Subject: Environment

Context :Tamilnadu police seized red sanders liogs worth crores in Tiruvallur.

Concept:

About Red Sanders:

Pterocarpus santalinus or Red Sanders is an endemic tree of South India
They are found in Tropical Dry Deciduous forest of the Palakonda and Seshachalam hill ranges of Andhra Pradesh and also found in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Red Sanders usually grow in the rocky, degraded and fallow lands with Red Soil and hot and dry climate.
IUCN has put it under the category of endangered species in the Red List due to the dwindling population because of illegal felling and smuggling.
Its export is banned in India in accordance with the CITES and Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
It is used for various purposes such as immunity medicine, furniture, radiation absorbent, musical instrument, food dyes and spices, Ayurveda and Siddha medicine, decorative and ornamental purposes etc.

8. RTI ACT

Subject : Legislations

Context: After 15 years of implementation of RTI , more than 2.2 lakh cases are pending in central and state information commissions.

Concept:

Right to Information

RTI is an act of the parliament which sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens’ right to information.
Under the provisions of RTI Act, any citizen of India may request information from a “public authority” (a body of Government or “instrumentality of State”) which is required to reply expeditiously or within 30.
In case of the matter involving a petitioner’s life and liberty, the information has to be provided within 48 hours.
The Act also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.

Governing of RTI

The Right to information in India is governed by two major bodies:

Central Information Commission (CIC) – Chief Information commissioner who heads all the central departments and ministries- with their own public information officers (PIO)s. CICs are directly under the President of India.
State Information Commissions (SIC)–State Public Information Officers or SPIOs head over all the state department and ministries. The SPIO office is directly under the corresponding State Governor.
State and CIC are independent bodies and CIC has no jurisdiction over the SIC.

Fundamental status of RTI

RTI is a fundamental right for every citizen of India. Since RTI, is implicit in the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, it is an implied fundamental right.

Important Sections:

Section- 2 (f): “Information” means any material in any form, including Records, Documents, Memos, e-mails, Opinions, Advices, Press releases, Circulars, Orders, Logbooks, Contracts, Reports, Papers, Samples, Models, Data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a Public Authority under any other law for the time being in force.
Section 4 of the RTI Act requires suo motu disclosure of information by each public authority. However, such disclosures have remained less than satisfactory.
Section 8 (1) mentions exemptions against furnishing information under RTI Act.
Section 8 (2) provides for disclosure of information exempted under Official Secrets Act, 1923 if larger public interest is served.