Daily Prelims Notes 16 October 2021

October 16, 2021
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Daily Prelims Notes

16 October 2021

Table Of Contents

1. International Day of Rural Women

Subject – Agriculture

Context – International Day of Rural Women – October 15

Concept –

Over 70 per cent of rural women in India are engaged in agriculture.
Women carry out a large portion of the farm work as cultivators and agricultural labourers. Yet, in most instances, they are not even counted and recognised as farmers.
Millions of rural Indian women also shoulder the domestic work burden, a job that is undervalued and unrecognised economically.
The contributions of these women, often overlooked, play a pivotal role in creating food security that sustains rural communities.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) CSISA project (Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia) facilitated maize cultivation for farmers.
- The aim was for them to make maximum use of the land all year-round and to move beyond personal consumption towards commercial production.
- CIMMYT’s CSISA project began its sustainable intensification programme in some parts of Odisha’s plateau region in early 2012.
- During the initial phase, maize stood out as an alternative crop with a high level of acceptance, particularly among women farmers.

2. Non power consumption of coal

Subject – Economy

Context – Coal’s now only for power and profits

Concept –

State-owned Coal India has asked its subsidiaries not to auction coal, except for the power sector.
“In view of the current low stock position at the powerhouse end, supply of coal is being prioritised to the power sector to replenish the dwindling stock…coal companies are advised to refrain from conducting of any further e-auctions of coal with the exception of special forward e-auction for the power sector, till the situation stabilises,” Coal India said in a recent letter to its arms.
Non-power consumers, which account for about a quarter of India’s total coal consumption, include steel plants, aluminium smelters and cement manufacturers.
Supplies to non-power sectors during the first half of FY22 at little over 62 million tonnes (MT) was 10% higher than last year.
The coal ministry said it is diverting the output from captive coal mines, to augment fuel supply to the power sector.
- Captive mines are those that produce coal or mineral for exclusive use by the company that owns the blocks.
- Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 empowered central to reserve any mine for the particular end-use. These were the captive mines.
- Now, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021 removed the distinction. Now captive mines will also be able to sell their stock.

The profits

Private power producers and some state transmission utilities appear to be making a killing by selling electricity on the exchanges where rates have tripled owing to lower generation as a result of coal shortage.
Data from the power exchanges for October 13 show producers and state transmission companies selling electricity at Rs 16-18 per unit against the usual rate of Rs 4-6 prevalent before the coal shortage hit generation units.

3. Seven new defence CPSEs created

Subject – Defence and Security

Context – Seven new defence CPSEs created

Concept –

Prime minister Narendra Modi announced creation of seven state-run defence companies that will enjoy full functional autonomy and have decisive R&D orientation.
The assets of the over 200-year-old Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), including its 41 ordnance factories have been transferred to the seven new firms while OFB will cease to exist.
The new move is in sync with a series of announcements made over the last few years to promote private investments and indigenisation of India’s defence production.
- The Centre had also enhanced FDI in defence sector up to 74% through the automatic route for companies seeking new defence industrial licence and up to 100% via ‘approval route’.
- Also, defence capital outlay was increased by 18.75 % in the Budget of 2021-22.

To know about Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), please click here.

4. Nihang Sikhs

Subject – Art and Culture

Context – Nihangs – the Sikh sect in spotlight after Singhu lynching

Concept –

Nihang is an order of Sikh warriors, characterised by blue robes, antiquated arms such as swords and spears, and decorated turbans surmounted by steel quoits.
According to Sikh historian Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon, “Etymologically the word Nihang in Persian means an alligator, sword and pen but the characteristics of Nihangs seem to stem more from the Sanskrit word nihshank which means without fear, unblemished, pure, carefree and indifferent to worldly gains and comfort.”
The 19th century historian Rattan Singh Bhangu describes Nihangs as “unaffected by pain or comfort”, “given to meditation, penance and charity” and “complete warriors”.

When was the order formed?

Dhillon says the order can be traced back to the creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.
The word Nihang, also occurs in a hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib, where it alludes to a fearless and unrestrained person.
However, there are some sources which trace their origin to Guru Gobind Singh’s younger son, Fateh Singh (1699-1705), who once appeared in the Guru’s presence dressed in a blue chola… and blue turban with a dumala (piece of cloth forming a plume).
- On seeing his son look so majestic, the Guru remarked that it shall be the dress of Nihangs, the reckless soldiers of the Khalsa.

How were Nihangs different from other Sikhs, and other Sikh warriors?

Nihangs observe the Khalsa code of conduct in its strictest sense.
They do not profess any allegiance to an earthly master.
Instead of saffron they hoist a blue Nishan Sahib (flag) atop their shrines.
Nihangs use the slogans ‘chhardi kala’ (forever in high spirits) and ‘tiar bar tiar’ (state of ever preparedness) for unforeseen events.
The Nihangs are fond of a popular drink called shardai or sharbatidegh (sacrament drink) which contains grounded almonds, cardamom seeds, poppy seeds, black pepper, rose petals and melon seeds.
- When a small measure of cannabis is added to it, it is termed sukhnidhan (treasure of comfort).
- A higher dose of cannabis in it was known as shaheedideg, sacrament of martyrdom. It was taken (while) battling enemies.

What is their role in Sikh history?

Nihangs had a major role in defending the Sikh panth after the fall of the first Sikh rule (1710-15) when Mughal governors were killing Sikhs, and during the onslaught of Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Durrani (1748-65)
When the Khalsa army was divided into five battalions in 1734, one Nihang or Akali battalion was led by Baba Deep Singh Shahid.
Nihangs also took control of the religious affairs of the Sikhs at Akal Bunga (now known as Akal Takht) in Amritsar.
They did not consider themselves subordinate to any Sikh chief and thus maintained their independent existence.
Their clout came to an end after the fall of Sikh Empire in 1849 when the British authorities of Punjab appointed a manager (sarbrah) for the administration of the Golden Temple in 1859.
In the recent past, the Nihang chief, Baba Santa Singh, at the instance of Indian Government had fallen afoul of the mainstream Sikhs as he went on to rebuild the Akal Takht that was damaged during Operation Bluestar in June 1984.
Some Nihangs, namely Ajit Singh Poohla, collaborated with the Punjab police to eliminate Sikh militants.

What is their current status?

Nihangs today constitute a small community.
About a dozen bands, each headed by a jathedar (leader), are still carrying on with the traditional order.
- Prominent among these are Budha Dal, Taruna Dal and their factions.
In the absence of a centralised command, the Nihangs are loosely organised.
For the whole year they remain stationed at their respective deras (centres) but set out on their annual pilgrimage of Anandpur Sahib, Damdama Sahib Talwandi Sabo and Amritsar, take part in religious events and exhibit their martial skills and horsemanship.
In the ongoing farm protest, groups of Nihangs went to Singhu to express solidarity with the protesting farmers.

Who can become a Nihang?

As per a top Nihang Sikh leader, irrespective of caste, creed or religion having unshorn hair and following Sikh traditions and who remembers five banis, performs daily ablutions by waking up at 1 am and performs morning and evening prayers can be included in the sect.
The baptized Sikh willing to become a Nihang and fulfilling conditions is given robes and weapons similar to the ones carried by Guru Gobind Singh when he founded the Khalsa.

5. Global Hunger Index Calculation

Subject – Governance

Context – Centre questions Global Hunger Index

Concept –

Global Hunger Index — prepared by Ireland-based aid agency Concern Worldwide and Germany-based Welt Hunger Hilfe — has ranked India at 101 down from 94 in 2020.
India’s neighbours China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are positioned above the country.
Global Hunger Index tracks hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
Each country’s GHI score is classified by severity, from low to extremely alarming.
- With a score of 27.5, India has a level of hunger that is serious.
The score in the index is based on four component indicators such as undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality.
- Undernourishment data are provided by the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
- Child mortality data are sourced from the U.N. Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.
- Child wasting and stunting data are drawn from the joint database of UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank, among others.
The Centre also argued that the FAO methodology is unscientific. They have based their assessment on the results of a ‘four question’ opinion poll, which was conducted telephonically by Gallup. There is no scientific methodology to measure undernourishment like availability of food grains per capita during the period.

To know more about Global Hunger Index 2021, please click here.

6. WhatsApp adds encrypted back-up for text messages

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – WhatsApp adds encrypted back-up for text messages

Concept –

At a time when Indian authorities have asked instant messaging company WhatsApp to put in place a system to pinpoint the originator of messages, the Facebook-owned company has added another layer of encryption that will secure the messages that are even stored on Google Drive or iCloud
Now, accessing your WhatsApp messages from your phone storage would be even more difficult for another person, even for law enforcement agencies, as the company has started rolling out its new end-to-end encrypted back-up feature to protect messages that are stored outside its platform.
Recently, there have been instances where private messages on WhatsApp have been leaked after getting access to the user’s phone.
Users can now secure their messages with either a password or a 64-digit encryption key. “Neither WhatsApp nor your back-up service provider will be able to read your back-up or access the key required to unlock it,” said the messaging firm.
If someone chooses to back-up their chat history with end-to-end encryption, it will be accessible only to them, and no one will be able to unlock their back-up, not even WhatsApp.

To know about End-To-End Encryption, please click here and here.

7. Govt removes export restrictions on diagnostic kits and reagents

Subject – Economy

Context – Govt removes export restrictions on diagnostic kits and reagents

Concept –

The Centre has removed restrictions on the export of all diagnostic kits and reagents, including instruments used in detection of Covid infection, making exports free as there are less concerns of a domestic shortage due to a drop in Covid cases in the country.
The restrictions are being removed with immediate effect, according to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.
The DGFT also revised its earlier decision of October 4 restricting export of syringes with or without needles.
- Under the revised policy, export restrictions will be applicable only on syringes with certain specified denominations. For all other categories, exports will be free.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) organisation is an attached office of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is headed by Director General of Foreign Trade.
- Normally a member of the Indian Administrative Service having rendered 30 or more years is appointed to the post of the Director-General of Foreign Trade.
- The Director-General is an Ex-Officio Additional Secretary to the Government of India.
Right from its inception till 1991, when liberalization in the economic policies of the Government took place, this organization has been essentially involved in the regulation and promotion of foreign trade through regulation.
Keeping in line with liberalization and globalization and the overall objective of increasing of exports, DGFT has since been assigned the role of “facilitator”.
- The shift was from prohibition and control of imports/exports to promotion and facilitation of exports/imports, keeping in view the interests of the country.
This Directorate, with headquarters at New Delhi, is responsible for formulating and implementing the Foreign Trade Policy with the main objective of promoting India’s exports.
The DGFT also issues scrips/authorization to exporters and monitors their corresponding obligations through a network of 24 regional offices.

8. Herd immunity against Deltavariant difficult

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – Herd immunity against Delta variant difficult, shows study

Concept –

The severe outbreak of Covid in Delhi this year showed that the Delta variant can infect individuals previously infected by a different variant, highlighting the challenges of reaching herd immunity against the variant, according to an international team of scientists.
The study, published in the journal Science, on Thursday, also found that the Delta variant was 30-70 per cent more transmissible than previous lineages in Delhi.
Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection from a disease that can occur when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection.
The concept of herd immunity is critical in ending outbreaks, but the situation in Delhi shows that infection with previous Coronavirus variants will be insufficient for reaching herd immunity against Delta.

To know about Delta Variant, please click here.

To know about Herd Immunity, please click here.

To know about Herd Effect vs Herd Immunity, please click here.

9. Coal stocking norms for power plants

Subject – Economy

Context – Coal stocking norms for power plants to be eased to avert crisis

Concept –

India has decided to simplify its coal stocking regulations for thermal power plants, mandating them to maintain fuel inventories based on a specified plant load factor to avert the annual crisis the country faces during peak electricity demand seasons.
At present, the regulations are based on the last seven-day average coal consumption. Pithead plants have to maintain 15 days’ stock while for other generators, this can go up to 30 days depending on the distance between the plant and the coal supplying mine. The government is also considering reducing these categories and the number of days for stock requirement.
The current rules are seen as defective because in case power demand rises suddenly and more coal is consumed, a plant would see its stock deplete fast and run out of coal before the supply is replenished.

The new norms will be based on plant load factor, which means the stock has to be delivered for the plant to be operated at a certain level of capacity.
- This will ensure the power plants maintain the mandated coal inventories.
In case the power demand is less, the stocking requirement would still remain the same.
The stocking rules of the CEA were last modified in 2017.
The proposal is aimed at simplifying the calculation and eliminating chances of manipulation and complacency on the part of power project operators. A higher requirement would increase their working capital costs.
Power companies welcomed the proposal to revise coal stocking guidelines.

10. Kashmir of the South

Subject – Environment

Context – Of human-wildlife conflict in the ‘Kashmir of the South’

Concept –

Munnar, one of the most sought-after hill stations in Kerala widely called the “Kashmir of the South” by travel buffs for its scenic beauty and cool climate.
Located 1,600 metres above sea level in the biodiversity hot spot of the Western Ghats, Munnar was once the summer resort of the erstwhile British government in South India.
Increased animal intrusion in places like Munnar was not the fault of wild creatures but that of humans who have claimed its traditional territory and constructed houses and resorts there.
A host of reasons including shrinking habitat of elephants, the tendency to travel through their traditional route, the secondary growth of flora in fringe areas due to less human intervention during the lockdown period and so on might be the reasons for the increased jumbo presence.
Meanwhile, the people of the high range give unique names to these frequently straying elephants.
- While a crop-raiding jumbo was named Padayappa, after Tamil superstar Rajnikanth’s film, another, an expert in breaking metal fences was christened 4G, while one roaming around with a piece of hose stuck to its tusk was known as Hosekomban and one, known for his love for ‘ari’ (rice), was called Arikomban.
- There is also Chillikomban, with twig shaped tusk, the highly dangerous Murivalan and the well-behaved Sugunan.

11. Hydro-seismicity

Subject – Geography

Context – ‘Micro-tremors in North Karnataka, a phenomenon called hydro-seismicity’

Concept –

The series of tremors in Bidar and Kalaburagi districts in North Karnataka were possibly due to hydro-seismicity, which occur post monsoon.
Their preliminary observations indicated that the micro tremors of this nature normally occur during the post monsoon period. It is related to a phenomenon called hydro-seismicity after a heavy rainfall.
A natural increase in hydraulic head due to the elevation of the water table in recharge areas of groundwater basins increases the stress in earth. This triggers micro tremors and in some cases it is accompanied by sound.
These are due to shallow earthquakes that generate high-frequency surface waves. This type of seismic activity is very common and nothing to worry about, since it may not cascade into a large devastating earthquake.

To know about Earthquakes, please click here.

12. TB deaths up in pandemic: WHO

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – TB deaths up in pandemic: WHO

Concept –

The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of global progress in tackling tuberculosis and for the first time in over a decade, TB deaths have increased, according to the 2021 Global TB report released recently by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Worse, India (41%) was on the list of countries that topped those which contributed most to the global reduction in TB notifications between 2019 and 2020. India, along with Indonesia (14%), the Philippines (12%), China (8%) and 12 other countries, accounted for 93% of the total global drop in notifications.
In 2020, more people died of TB, with far fewer people being diagnosed and treated or provided with preventive treatment compared with 2019, and overall spending on essential TB services falling.

To know about TB, please click here.

To know about TB Alliance, please click here.

To know about BCG Vaccine, please click here.

13. Hydroelectric power plants in India

Subject – Geography

Context – Centre asks Kerala to increase generation at hydel stations

Concept –

India has 197 Hydro Power plants.
The end of the 19th century saw the development of power in India.

Hydro power projects are classified as large and small hydro projects based on their sizes. Different countries have different size criteria to classify small hydro power project capacity ranging from 10MW to 50 MW.
In India, hydro power plants of 25MW or below capacity are classified as small hydro, which have further been classified into micro (100kW or below), mini (101kW-2MW) and small hydro (2-25MW) segments.
Hydro Power was being looked after by Ministry of Power prior to 1989 mainly with the help of State Electricity Boards.
In 1989, plant capacity up to 3MW and below was transferred to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and as such 63 MW aggregate installed capacity of 3MW and below hydro projects came within the jurisdiction of MNRE.

14. Zurich museum

Subject – Art and Culture

Context – Research centre for Indian art set up in Zurich museum

Concept –

Museum Rietberg, based in Zurich, Switzerland, has established a unique research centre and fellowship programme with a focus on Indian art.
The GBF Centre is meant for scholars, curators, and artists who specialise in Indian painting.
The public-private partnership takes its name from the initials of its founders, three renowned names in art historical research, Prof. B.N. Goswamy from India, Prof. Milo Cleveland Beach from the U.S., and Dr. Eberhard Fischer from Switzerland.
Research fellows will get a chance to engage with original art works from renowned collections for three to six months in a project of their own design.
They will work with the museum’s team of scholars as well as experts from Switzerland and Europe.
Their papers will be presented at lectures and conferences and feed into the work at the Rietberg.
The programme aims to enhance international scientific, artistic, and curatorial exchange on Indian art and advance the museum’s own collections through dialogues from different perspectives.
Museum Rietberg is the only art museum for non-European art in Switzerland, and houses collections from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.
It holds exhibitions, cultural events, and global collaborations. Founded in 1952, its Indian paintings collection is ranked alongside those in London, Paris, and Berlin.
The GBF Centre has named SonikaSoni as its first research fellow. Ms. Soni is an artist and art historian from Rajasthan, whose interests lie in the connection between Indian painting and traditional Indian music.