Daily Prelims Notes 15 September 2022

September 15, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

15 September 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Cabinet approves addition of four tribes to ST list

Subject: Polity

Context: The Union Cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on approved the addition of four tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST), including those from Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.

Concept:

The Hatti tribe in the Trans-Giri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh, the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes of Tamil Nadu, and the Binjhia tribe in Chhattisgarh, which was listed as ST in Jharkhand and Odisha but not in Chhattisgarh, were the communities added to the list.
The Constitution empowers the President to specify the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in various states and union territorie Further, it permits Parliament to modify this list of notified STs.

Scheduled Tribe

Article 366(25) of the Constitution refers to Scheduled Tribes as those communities, who are scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution.
Article 342 says that only those communities who have been declared as such by the President through an initial public notification or through a subsequent amending Act of Parliament will be considered to be Scheduled Tribes.
The list of Scheduled Tribes is State/UT specific and a community declared as a Scheduled Tribe in a State need not be so in another State.
The Constitution is silent about the criteria for specification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe. Primitiveness, geographical isolation, shyness and social, educational & economic backwardness are the traits that distinguish Scheduled Tribe communities from other communities.

2. Natural Rubber Cultivation

Subject : Environment

Context : After a moderate post-pandemic revival, the price of natural rubber (NR) has rashed to a 16-month low of ₹150 per kg (RSS grade 4) in the Indian market.

Concept :

India is currently the world’s fifth largest producer of natural rubber while it also remains the second biggest consumer of the material globally. (About 40% of India’s total natural rubber consumption is currently met through imports)
A latest report by the latest report by the Rubber Board has projected the natural rubber production and consumption in India during 2022-23 as 8,50,000 tonnes and 12,90,000 tonnes.

About:

Natural rubber is a polymer of isoprene, an organic compound. Rubber is a coherent elastic solid obtained from the latex of a number of tropical trees of which Hevea brasiliensis is the most important.
Rubber trees have an economic life period of around 32 years in plantations.

Cultivation of Rubber Trees:

The trees demand well-drained and well-weathered soils.
Lateritic type, alluvial, sedimentary types, and non lateritic red soils are best for the growth of these trees.
An evenly distributed rainfall with at least 100 rainy days a year and a temperature range of about 20 to 34°C are optimum conditions for the growth of the Hevea rubber tree.
A humidity of around 80%, 2000 hours of sunshine, and absence of strong winds are also necessary for the best results.

Distribution:

The first rubber plantations in India were set up in 1895 on the hill slopes of Kerala.
However, rubber cultivation on a commercial scale was introduced in 1902.
Kerala is the largest producer of natural rubber in India.
Tamil Nadu , Karnataka, Tripura, Assam, Andaman and Nicobar, Goa etc are some other rubber producing States.

Rubber Board:

It was constituted under the Rubber Act, 1947 and Rubber Rules 1955. Rubber Board is a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the overall development of the rubber industry in the country.
Head Office of the Board is located at Kottayam in the State of Kerala.

3. Annabhau Sathe

Subject : History

Context :Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and other leaders are in Moscow to unveil the statue of Lok Shahir (balladeer) Annabhau Sathe at the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature.

Concept :

Tukaram Bhaurao Sathe, who later came to be known as Annabhau Sathe, was born in a Dalit family on August 1, 1920 in Maharashtra’s Wategaon village in Satara district.
In 1934, Mumbai witnessed a workers’ strike under the leadership of Lal Bawta Mill Workers Union in which he participated.
During his days at the Matunga Labour Camp, he got to know R B More, an associate of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the famous ‘Chavdar Lake’ satyagraha at Mahad, and joined the labour study circle.
Being a Dalit, he was denied schooling in his village. It was during these study circles that he learned to read and write.

Annabhau Sathe works

Sathe wrote his first poem on the menace of mosquitoes in the labour camp.
He formed Dalit Yuvak Sangh, a cultural group and started writing poems on workers’ protests, agitations.
Progressive Writers Association was formed at the national level at the same time with the likes of Premchand, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Manto, IsmatChugtai, Rahul Sankrutyayan, Mulkraj Anand as its members.
The group would translate the Russian work of Maxim Gorky, Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev into Marathi, which Sathe got hooked on.
It not only had an ideological impact on him, but inspired him to write street plays, stories, novels etc. In 1939, he wrote his first ballad ‘Spanish Povada’.
Sathe and his group travelled across Mumbai campaigning for workers’ rights.
Several of his works like ‘AklechiGoshta,’ ‘StalingradachaPovada,’ ‘MaziMainaGavavarRahili,’ ‘Jag Badal GhaluniGhav’ were popular across the state.
His ‘BangalchiHak’ (Bengal’s Call) on the Bengal famine was translated into Bengali and later presented at London’s Royal Theatre.
His literature depicted the caste and class reality of Indian society of that time.
In 1943, he formed the Lal Bawta Kala Pathak.
The group toured across Maharashtra presenting programmes on caste atrocities, class conflict, and workers’ rights.
He dedicated his most famous novel Fakira to Dr Ambedkar.

What was his Russian connection?

He was once called the Maxim Gorky of Maharashtra.
He was immensely inspired by Gorky’s ‘The Mother’ and the Russian revolution, which was reflected in his writings.
He travelled to Russia in 1961 along with a group of other Indians.

4. National Health Accounts

Subject : Health Sector

Context: Government spending as a proportion of total health expenditure in the country has been rising in recent years, even as the overall expenditure on health has declined as per National Health Account Estimates.

Concept:

The National Health Accounts Estimates describe the country’s total expenditure on healthcare.

Key Findings

According to the National Health Accounts Estimates 2018-19, the total health expenditure — the total money spent on healthcare by the government, people, private entities, and external funding — has fallen from 9% of the GDP to 3.2% in five years ending in 2018-19.
The Union government’s healthcare spending dropped to 1.28 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018-19 from the previous year’s figure of 1.35 percent.
Government spending on health schemes contributed 9.6 percent of the total health expenditure, as against 9 percent the previous year.
Out-of-the-pocket expenditure was 48.2 percent, a small drop from 48.8 percent in 2017-18.
India’s out-of-pocket expenditure still continues to be high when compared to other countries in the region (Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, etc.)as per the Global health expenditure database (66^th position out of 189 countries). However, it is comparatively low when compared to developed countries.
Out-of-pocket expenses have now decreased substantially from the 62.6 percent seen during 2014-15.But, there is no on-ground explanation for the drastic drop in out-of-pocket expenditure.
Other than government spending and people spending out-of-pocket, private health insurance accounted for 6.6 percent of the total health expenditure, against 5.8 percent the previous year.

5. Broken rice export

Subject: Economy

The Indian government’s ban on exports of broken rice will eliminate its trade that had increased 53 per cent last year, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Details:

Broken rice exports accounted for nearly 20 percent (first half of 2022) and 10% (2021) of the total rice exports.
Rice trade is estimated to contract in 2022 partly due to the new Indian policy to ban exports of broken rice.
India contributed to over 50 per cent of the global trade in broken rice.
China, Vietnam and Senegal are the major importers of broken rice.

About the ban:

Recently, India has banned exports of broken rice and imposed a 20% duty on exports of non-Basmati rice except for parboiled rice to boost domestic supplies amid a fall in area under the paddy crop in the current Kharif season.
There are four categories of rice exports.
- Out of these, exports in the case of two – basmati rice and parboiled non-basmati rice –are still freely allowed.
- The curbs are only for the other two: raw (white) and broken non-basmati rice.
Why did the Government Ban the Export?
- Unusual rise in Exports
- China was the top buyer (15.85 LMT) of Indian broken rice in 2021-22.
- Paucity in Domestic Market
- Rise in Global Demand-due to low cost
- Decline in Domestic Production due to fall in area under paddy cultivation

Trends in rice production and export:

India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice which accounts for more than 40% of global rice shipments and it competes with Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Myanmar in the world market.
- Non-basmati rice accounts for the lion’s share in the basket of Indian rice exports.
- China emerged as the top buyer of Indian rice during the pandemic, with the import of 7.7 per cent — of India’s total rice export in financial year 2021-22
- Of the total rice imports from India, nearly 97 per cent was broken rice.
India, the world’s biggest rice consumer after China.
China is the world’s largest producer and largest rice importer.

Parboiled and Broken Rice

Paddy typically has 20-21% husk (the inedible covering of the grain) and 10-11% bran (the brown outer layer of the edible kernel).
What remains after removal of the husk and bran is the white raw rice that constitutes 68-69% of paddy.
Parboiling is a process where the paddy is soaked in water, steamed and dried while retaining its outer husk.
- It results in the rice becoming harder with less breakage on milling.
- The parboiled rice exported from India contains 5-15% broken grains.
- In raw rice, the brokens are normally up to 25%.
- It is the rice having 100% brokens whose exports have been prohibited.
Broken rice is fragments of rice grains, broken in the field, during drying, during transport, or during milling.
Broken rice is fragmented, not defective.
It is as nutritious as the equivalent quantity of unbroken rice.

Significance of Broken Rice:

Manufacture of feed for very young animals, livestocks and for pets.
- It is particularly suitable due to its rich caloric value and low fibre content.
Brewing industry-where it is mixed with barley and the production of arak (aniseed alcoholic drink, distilled, colourless drink).
Raw material for rice flour, used in baby food, breakfast cereals, rice wine, rice liqueur, sake, and prepackaged and canned foods.

6. Climate risk discussion paper by the Reserve Bank of India

Subject : Economy

RBI’s paper on climate action has suggestions worthy of adoption.

About the discussion paper:

The paper highlights gaps in the way climate change as a material risk is treated by India’s banks. It diligently elucidates:

Physical climate impact risks.
- It refers to the economic costs and financial losses resulting from the increasing frequency and severity of extreme climate change-related weather events such as acute physical risks and chronic physical risks.
Transition loss risks
- The process of transition to reducing carbon emissions may have a significant impact on the economy. It includes:
  - Cost due to changes in climate-related policies and regulations.
  - Investment portfolios or reduction in cash flow due to emergence of newer technologies.
  - Shifting sentiments and behaviour of customers.
- The consultation paper offers:
- Broad guidance,
- Illustrative examples and good practices for regulated entities around governance,
- Disclosures strategy, processes and the risk management structure to address climate risks, with valuable insights for consideration of boards.
- It provides more emphasis on the numerous financing opportunities.
  - foreign capital through sustainability-linked loans and bonds.

Initiatives by the RBI in climate change:

In May 2021, it set up a Sustainable Finance Group within its Department of Regulation
- It aims to coordinate with other national and international agencies on issues relating to climate change.
The Reserve Bank released on its website the results of a Survey on Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance undertaken in January 2022.
- The Sustainable Finance Group (SFG) carried out a survey in January 2022 to assess the status of climate risk and sustainable finance in leading scheduled commercial banks.
- The survey covered 12 public sector banks, 16 private sector banks and 6 foreign banks in India.
- It provides useful insights, and the feedback from this exercise will help in shaping the regulatory and supervisory approach of the RBI to climate risk and sustainable finance.
In a bulletin issued in March 2022, the RBI analysed the impact of the green energy transition on fossil fuel dependent industries.
The recently released climate risk discussion paper by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to encourage the country’s financial sector to prioritize green-transition financing and ensure long term systemic stability by addressing the growing threat of climate challenges, is most welcome.

Network for Greening the Financial System

It is a group of central banks and supervisors willing to share best practices and contribute to the development of environment and climate risk management in the financial sector.
It was created at the Paris One Planet Summit in December 2017 and its secretariat is hosted by the Banque de France.
It also seeks to mobilise mainstream finance to support the transition towards a sustainable economy.