Daily Prelims Notes 13 April 2021

April 13, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

13 April 2021

Table Of Contents

1. ICLEI

Subject: International Organizations

Context: ICLEI elects Atishi as next Global Vice President; first from South Asia.

Concept:

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 1,750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development.
Active in 100+ countries, It influence sustainability policy and drive local action for low emission.
It focuses on nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development.
ICLEI creates connections among the local, regional, national and global governmental levels.
ICLEI advocate for robust national and global sustainability policies that reflect the interests of local and regional governments and their communities.
ICLEI forges strategic alliances with international organizations, national governments, academic and financial institutions, civil society and the private sector.

2. ONE WEB

Subject: Science & tech

Context: OneWeb to provide services in Kazakhstan.

Concept:

OneWeb is a global communications company founded by Greg Wyler.
The company is headquartered in London, United Kingdom and McLean, Virginia, United States.
OneWeb was formed with a mission to offer high speed, low latency wireless broadband access to billions of people across the globe, especially in rural areas through a constellation of satellites in low earth orbit.
The company was one of the earliest to propose a mega-constellation to deliver internet to remote parts of the world but SpaceX’sStarlink constellation already has about 800 satellites in low-earth orbit against OneWeb’s 74.
The initial focus will be to deliver a viable commercial internet service to the UK and the Arctic region by autumn next year.
One Web intends to complete its target of having 650 satellites in orbit by 2022 for its global coverage.
Goal will be to launch global commercial internet service focusing on remote areas by 2022.

3. VIPIT

Subject: Science & tech

Context: The curious case of VIPIT: Studies needed to identify susceptibility markers, diagnostic tests, treatments.

Concept:

The United Kingdom, European Union, and Scandinavian countries have reported that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine appears to be associated with rare cases of serious blood clots, including blood clots in the brain.
These blood clots have two important features: they occur 4 to 20 days after vaccination, and they are associated with low platelets (tiny blood cells that help form blood clots to stop bleeding).
Doctors are calling this “vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia” (VIPIT).
VIPIT seems to be rare, occurring in anywhere from 1 in every 125,000 to 1 in 1 million people.
There have been no confirmed cases of VIPIT with any other COVID-19 vaccine.

4. INDIA ENERGY DASHBOARD

Subject: Economy

Context: The India Energy Dashboards Version 2.0 was launched by NITI Aayog.

Concept:

India Energy Dashboards (IED) is an endeavour to provide single-window access to the energy data for the country.
Energy data published/provided by Central Electricity Authority, Coal Controller’s Organisation, and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is compiled in the Dashboards.
NITI Aayog launched the Version 1.0 in May 2017.

The key features of the enhanced version, India Energy Dashboards Version 2.0, are –

The IED provides time series data from FY 2005-06 until FY 2019-20;
Enhanced data download – It enables easy downloading of data into convenient spreadsheet formats in a cleaner, more intuitive way;
IED provides data at sub-yearly frequencies as well. This includes monthly data and API linked data from some portals maintained by the government agencies.
The monthly data is sourced from the monthly reports that are regularly published for the electricity, petroleum and natural gas sectors.
API linked data from Saubhagya, UJALA, PRAAPTI, and Vidyut PRAVAH has been incorporated in the portal.

5. SMALLCASES

Subject: Economics

Concept:

A smallcase is a basket of stocks that may reflect a particular investment theme, idea or a sector. So, a dividend-yield smallcase may be made up of high dividend paying stocks and an IT smallcase, of leading software firms.
Smallcase today hosts dozens of ready-made portfolios and investing strategies that have been created by SEBI-licensed professionals such as brokers and research analysts, using quantitative models and algorithms to screen and weight constituents.
Smallcase, which provides infrastructure to the creators of these portfolios, is partnered with all leading brokerages including Zerodha, HDFC Securities, Kotak Securities, Axis Direct, Edelweiss and Angel Broking.
While some brokerage houses curate their own in-house smallcases, some rely on smallcases built by a subsidiary of Smallcase, Windmill Capital.
To invest in smallcases you need a demat account. When you buy/sell a smallcase, the stocks/ETFs featuring in it will be credited or debited to your account.
The minimum investment amount may vary depending on the stocks that make up a smallcase. Once a smallcase is chosen, you can invest a lumpsum or choose to run a systematic investment in it.
Standard brokerage charges are applicable. In addition, there will be a nominal, one-time registration fee of ₹100-150.

6. INDUSTRIAL & MEDICAL OXYGEN

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Consumption of medical oxygen doubled in five days in Gujarat.

Concept:

Medical Oxygen

Medical oxygen is the oxygen which we use to treat patients. We use it to maintain enough oxygen level in our blood.
Oxygen therapy is the use of oxygen as a medical treatment. We can use it to treat low blood oxygen levels, carbon monoxide toxicity, cluster headaches, etc.
This oxygen provides a basis for virtually all modern anaesthetic techniques, restores tissue oxygen tension by increasing the oxygen availability, aids resuscitation, aids cardiovascular stability, etc.
However, there are some side effects as well. Furthermore, high concentrations can cause toxicity.

Industrial Oxygen

Industrial oxygen is focused on uses in industrial plants including combustion, oxidation, cutting and chemical reactions. The industrial oxygen purity levels are not appropriate for human use and there could be impurities from dirty equipment or industrial storage that could make people ill.

Followings are the uses of oxygen in industry:

Multi-industry uses gas welding, gas cutting, oxygen scarfing, flame cleaning, flame straightening, etc.
Metals manufacturing uses: steel production
Petroleum industry: coal gasification, manufacture of ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, synthesis gas, etc.
Glass and ceramics: conversion of air-fuel combustion systems into oxy-fuel combustion systems for high efficiency and reduction of NOx emissions.
Pulp and paper manufacturing: oxygen as a bleaching chemical.

Difference between Medical Oxygen and Industrial Oxygen

Medical oxygen is the oxygen that we use to treat patients. We use oxygen to maintain enough oxygen level in our blood.
Industrial oxygen is the oxygen which we use for industrial purposes. We use oxygen in industries mainly for combustion and gasification processes.

7. NEW YEAR FESTIVALS IN INDIA

Subject: Culture

Concept:

Chaitra Shukla Pratipada

It marks the beginning of the new year of the VikramSamvat also known as the Vedic [Hindu] calendar.
VikramSamvat is based on the day when the emperor Vikramaditya defeated Sakas, invaded Ujjain and called for a new era.
Under his supervision, astronomers formed a new calendar based on the luni-solar system that is still followed in the northern regions of India.
It is the first day during the waxing phase (in which the visible side of moon is getting bigger every night) of the moon in the Chaitra (first month of Hindu calendar).

GudiPadwa and Ugadi

These festivals are celebrated by the people in the Deccan region including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The common practice in the celebrations of both the festivals is the festive food that is prepared with a mix of sweet and bitter.
A famous concoction served is jaggery (sweet) and neem (bitter), called bevu-bella in the South, signifying that life brings both happiness and sorrows.
Gudi is a doll prepared in Maharashtrian homes.
A bamboo stick is adorned with green or red brocade to make the gudi. This gudi is placed prominently in the house or outside a window/ door for all to see.
For Ugadi, doors in homes are adorned with mango leaf decorations called toranalu or Torana in Kannada.

Cheti Chand

Sindhis celebrate the new year as Cheti Chand. Chaitra month is called ‘Chet’ in Sindhi.
The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Uderolal/Jhulelal, the patron saint of Sindhis.

Navreh

It is the lunar new year that is celebrated in Kashmir.
It is the Sanskrit word ‘Nav-Varsha’ from where the word ‘Navreh’ has been derived.
It falls on the first day of the Chaitra Navratri.
On this day, Kashmiri pandits look at a bowl of rice which is considered as a symbol of riches and fertility.

SajibuCheiraoba

It is a ritual festival of Meiteis which is observed on the first day of Manipur lunar month Shajibu, which falls in March/April every year.
On the day of the festival, people arrange a joint family feast in which traditional cuisines are offered to local deities at the entrance gates of the houses.

8. CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER

Subject: Polity

Context: Recently, the President has appointed Shri Sushil Chandra, the senior-most Election Commissioner, as the Chief Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India.

Concept:

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)

The Election Commission shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the president may from time to time fix.
The appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners shall be made by the president.
The president may also appoint after consultation with the election commission such regional commissioners as he may consider necessary to assist the election commission.

Conditions of service and Tenure of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)

The conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be determined by the president.
The CEC and the two other election commissioners have equal powers and receive equal salary, allowances and other perquisites, which are similar to those of a judge of the Supreme Court.
They hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
They can resign at any time or can also be removed before the expiry of their term.

Independence of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)

The chief election commissioner is provided with the security of tenure.
He cannot be removed from his office except in same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.
He can be removed by the president on the basis of a resolution passed to that effect by both the Houses of Parliament with special majority.
He does not hold his office till the pleasure of the president, though he is appointed by him.
The service conditions of the chief election commissioner cannot be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
Any other election commissioner or a regional commissioner cannot be removed from office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner.

9. REFUGEES & ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Subject: Polity

Context: Last week, the Supreme Court appeared to accept the Centre’s contention that the Rohingya people in India are illegal immigrants, most of whom are in a detention camp in Jammu, and others in Delhi. It said they should be deported according to procedures under the Foreigners Act, 1946.

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—

(i) 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

(ii) 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.

10. REGEN COV

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Regeneron to seek US approval for COVID-19 cocktail to be used for prevention.

Concept:

REGEN-COV, a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab, protected household contacts from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, with 72 per cent protection against symptomatic infections in the first week, and 93 per cent after that, according to trial data released by the company.
The current trial tested REGEN-COV for use as a passive vaccine, which involves direct delivery of virus-fighting antibodies into the body unlike traditional vaccines in which the receiver’s immune system is activated to develop its own antibodies.
These data using REGEN-COV as a passive vaccine suggest that it may both reduce transmission of the virus as well as reduce viral and disease burden in those who still get infected.

Antibody Cocktail

An antibody is a protein made by immune cells that is just the right shape and size to attach itself to a specific spot on a particular foreign substance, such as a virus or bacteria in the blood.
By attaching, the antibody can potentially directly stop these invaders from causing an infection, or it can mark them for destruction by immune cells.
The REGN-COV2 antibody cocktail in these trials is a combination of two potent, complementary, virus-neutralizing antibodies.
They were selected by Regeneron scientists after screening thousands of options. Each binds to the spike proteins on the virus, which is that corona we see in pictures of the virus.
Those spikes allow the virus to attach to and penetrate other cells. If we block that interaction, the virus is less successful at binding to healthy cells.
One antibody comes from a human survivor of COVID-19.. The other antibody is from a mouse that has been engineered to have a human immune system. The cocktail does not contain human blood products.

11. SHANTIR OGROSENA

Subject: Defence

Context: Exercise SHANTIR OGROSENA-2021 culminated today.

Concept:

Exercise ShantirOgroshena

The Exercise ShantirOgroshena (Front Runner of the Peace) is a multinational military exercise.
The 2021 edition of Exercise ShantirOgroshena will be held in Bangladesh to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangladesh ‘Father of the Nation’ Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The theme of the exercise is “Robust Peace Keeping Operations”.
The military observers from USA, UK, Turkey, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore will also be in attendance throughout the exercise.
The participants of Exercise ShantirOgroshena -2021 will be the DOGRA Regiment of Indian Army along with contingent of Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army.

12. INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

Subject: Economy

Context: IIP shrinks 3.6% in February owing to steep decline in manufacturing.

Concept :

Index of Industrial Production

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that shows the growth rates in different industry groups of the economy in a fixed period of time.
It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
IIP is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:
Broad sectors, namely, Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity.
Use-based sectors, namely Basic Goods, Capital Goods, and Intermediate Goods.
Base Year for IIP is 2011-2012.
The eight core industries of India represent about 40% of the weight of items that are included in the IIP.

Significance of IIP :

IIP is the only measure on the physical volume of production.
It is used by government agencies including the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, etc, for policy-making purposes.
IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP estimates.

13. NHRC

Subject: National Organisations

Context: ‘Torture’ of 28 prisoners: NHRC asks chief secy to report on action taken.

Concept:

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC):

It is a statutory body established on 12th October, 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993.
The Act also provides for the creation of the State Human Rights Commission as well.

Composition:

The chairperson is a retired chief justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court.
They are appointed by the President on the recommendations of a six-member committee consisting of:

Prime Minister (head)

Speaker of the Lok Sabha

Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha

Leaders of the Opposition in both the Houses of Parliament

Union Home Minister.

Term and removal:

They hold office for a term of three years or until they attain the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.
The President can remove them from the office under specific circumstances.

National Human Rights Commission