Daily Prelims Notes 16 September 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

16 September 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Govt. notifies 31 Benches of GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)
2. Wrong to assess economic activity on GDP alone: FinMin
3. India working on connecting South East Asia power grids under OSOWOG
4. EU Parliament votes in favor of Critical Raw Materials Act
5. How can I lower my cholesterol? Do supplements work? How about psyllium or probiotics?
6. Human-led climate impact rapidly cooling upper atmosphere even as lower atmosphere warms
7. WHO releases first-of-its-kind patient safety rights charter ahead of Patient Safety Day
8. Editors Guild of India has right to free speech, says CJI
9. Why is 2023 so hot? A rare Pacific volcano is among the suspects
10. Unified Portal for Agricultural Statistics launched
11. From neutrinos and Tb bacteria to quake-resistant buildings: How works of these young scientists have the potential to change the world

1. Govt. notifies 31 Benches of GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)

Subject: Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

In News: Govt. notifies 31 Benches of GST Appellate Tribunal

Key Points:

• The Finance Ministry notifies the constitution of 31 Appellate Tribunals across 28 States and eight Union Territories for the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• This will help resolve a growing number of taxpayer disputes with the Revenue Department.
• Establishment of these tribunals was envisaged at the time of the implementation of the GST regime from July 1, 2017 but got a final clearance from the GST Council in July 2023.
• It was a much-awaited move for industry players, who had been approaching the High Courts and Supreme Court during the past six years.
• The first set of tribunals will become operational sometime between this November and January 2024.
• To start with, Uttar Pradesh will have the highest number of benches of the GST tribunals, with three benches proposed to be set up across Lucknow, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Agra, and Prayagraj.
• Karnataka and Rajasthan will have two benches each, while Maharashtra and Goa together will have three benches to take up appeals.

Why the move is significant?

• Constitution of GST Appellate Tribunals (GSTATs) will expedite the process of adjudication and provide tax certainty especially in recurring litigative issues.
• Ensuring speedier and economic resolution of cases by dedicated and specialized GSTATs will help in bolstering business sentiments and ease of doing business in the country.
• Where the taxpayers feel that there has been a burden of high rate of pre-deposit, the decisions by the tribunal will give some relief.

2. Wrong to assess economic activity on GDP alone: FinMin

Subject: Economy

Section: National Income

In News: Finance ministry defends economic performance of India with quarterly growth at 7.8%, emphasizing some limitations of GDP calculation.

Key Points:

• Finance Ministry defends GDP performance after questions were raised on credibility of the quarterly growth of 7.8%.
• According to Finance Ministry it is wrong to look at the underlying economic activity based on GDP indicators alone look at several other growth indicators to see if other data match their conclusions.

 The main points raised were:

• Indian GDP data is not seasonally adjusted and they are also revised multiple times before they are finalised three years after the close of the relevant financial year
• India’s GDP deflator is dominated by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) which peaked in the first quarter of 2022-23 due to the oil and food price increases in the wake of the war in Ukraine and supply-side disruptions.
• MoSPI calculates quarterly Gross value added (GVA) in real terms first, and then, using the deflator, nominal values are obtained.
• Because of this nominal growth rates have slowed, with WPI contracting in recent months.
• Purchasing Managers’ Indices indicate that the manufacturing and services sectors are growing. Bank credit growth is in double digits.
• Consumption is improving, and the government has vigorously ramped up capital expenditure.
• India’s growth numbers might understate the reality because manufacturing growth indicated by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is far lower than what manufacturing companies are reporting”.
• Prices began to come down from August 2022 onwards. Hence, WPI is now contracting year on year. It will soon pass once the statistical base effect disappears.
• GDP is calculated as per the Income or Production Approach. As per the expenditure approach, it would have been lower. So, a balancing figure – statistical discrepancy is added to the expenditure approach estimate.
• These discrepancies are both positive and negative. Over time, they wash out in FY23 and FY22, the ‘statistical discrepancy’ was negative. In other words, growth as per the Income Approach was lower.

3. India working on connecting South East Asia power grids under OSOWOG

Subject: IR

Section: International relations

In News: India is working on connecting South East Asian power grids to Europe via Middle East Power under OSOWOG.

Key Points:

• As part of One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG), India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Singapore are in advanced stages of creating a mega grid infrastructure, which will enable trade in renewable energy from South East Asia to Europe via the Middle East. 
•  India recently signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia, which includes grid interconnection.
• It will enable us to exchange electricity based on our requirements. It will also extend our reach to the Middle East grid and the European grid.
• Any deficits in power supply in those areas can be provided by us. Similarly, the reach of Saudi Arabia can be extended through us to the South East Asian grid, to which we will be connected Grid interconnection from South East Asia to Europe is part of the OSOWOG initiative.
• It will be beneficial to all the countries participating in the sense that these countries will be able to access renewable energy (RE) at the least cost.
• OSOWOG initiative is to introduce a transnational electricity grid that supplies power worldwide. It was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in 2018.
• India has had preliminary discussions with Singapore to have an undersea cable to Singapore and through Singapore to the ASEAN grid.
• The only requirement would be to see if there is enough traffic because if there is sufficient traffic between the regions then the transmission cost per unit will become affordable
• OSOWOG will change the power trading dynamics in Asia as the interconnected grid will help reduce battery storage, which is costly.

4. EU Parliament votes in favor of Critical Raw Materials Act

Subject: IR

Section: International relations

Context:

• The Critical Raw Materials Act was voted on in the European Parliament during the September 11-14, 2023, plenary session in Strasbourg, France. It was approved with a large majority of 515 Members of the European Parliament (MEP) backing it.

Critical Materials Act:

• The regulation aims to “diversify the Union’s imports of strategic raw materials with a view to ensure that, by 2030, the Union’s annual consumption of each strategic raw material at any relevant stage of processing can rely on imports from several third countries, none of which provide more than 65 per cent of the Union’s annual consumption”.
• By 2030, the Union extraction capacity should be such that the ores, minerals, or concentrates needed to produce at least 10 percent of its annual consumption of strategic raw materials can be extracted.
• The EU aims to increase its processing capacity along the value chain and be able to produce at least 40 percent of its annual consumption of strategic raw materials. The aim is to manufacture at least 50 per cent annual consumption of strategic raw materials.
• Collecting, sorting, and processing 45 per cent of each strategic raw material contained in the Union’s waste.

EU’s dependence on China for critical minerals:

• The European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, aims to reduce its dependence on China and increase its domestic capacity for critical minerals through this legislation.
• The EU was 99 percent dependent on China for rare earth metals.

The raw materials listed as critical include: Aluminum [Am. 5], Bismuth, Boron — metallurgy grade, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Lithium — battery grade, Magnesium metal, Manganese — battery grade, Natural Graphite — battery grade, Nickel — battery grade, Platinum group metals, Rare earth elements for magnets, Silicon metal, Titanium metal, Tungsten.

IEA assessment of critical mineral market:

• The first annual International Energy Agency (IEA) Critical Minerals Market Review, said rapid deployment of clean energy technologies has led to a huge demand for minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper.
• Over a five-year period between 2017 and 2022, the energy sector contributed to a 70 per cent rise in demand for cobalt and a 40 per cent rise in demand for nickel, the demand for lithium tripled in the same period.
• In 2021, China manufactured more than 80 per cent of different stages of solar panels (such as polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells, and modules), more than double China’s global Photovoltaic demand.

Critical Minerals for India:

• Expert Committee under the Ministry of Mines has identified a set of 30 critical minerals for India.
• These are Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE, Phosphorous, Potash, REE, Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zirconium, Selenium and Cadmium.
• India has set up KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Limited), a joint venture of three public sector companies, to ensure a consistent supply of critical and strategic minerals to the Indian domestic market.
• It ensures the mineral security of the nation; it also helps in realizing the overall objective of import substitution.

5. How can I lower my cholesterol? Do supplements work? How about psyllium or probiotics?

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Health

Why are we so worried about cholesterol?

• There are two main types of cholesterol, both affecting your risk of heart disease and stroke. Both types are carried in the bloodstream inside molecules called lipoproteins.
• Low-density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol
  • Also called “bad” cholesterol. This lipoprotein carries cholesterol from the liver to cells throughout the body. High levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood can lead to the build-up of plaque in arteries, which leads to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
• High-density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol
  • Also called “good” cholesterol. This lipoprotein helps remove excess cholesterol from the bloodstream and transports it back to the liver for processing and excretion. Higher levels of HDL cholesterol are linked to a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke.

Soluble fibre:

• Consuming soluble fiber reduced the LDL cholesterol.
• Soluble fiber is a type of fiber that dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance in our gut. The gel can bind to cholesterol molecules preventing them from being absorbed into the bloodstream and allows them to be eliminated from the body through your faeces.
• Soluble fiber rich foods are: fruits, vegetables, oats, barley, beans and lentils.
  • Natural soluble fibers, such as inulin (for example, Benefiber) or psyllium (for example, Metamucil) or beta-glucan (for example, in ground oats)
  • Synthetic soluble fibers, such as polydextrose (for example, STA-LITE), wheat dextrin (also found in Benefiber) or methylcellulose (such as Citrucel)
  • Natural insoluble fibers, which bulk out your faeces, such as flax seeds.

Probiotics:

• Probiotics are live microorganisms (bacteria and yeast) that are thought to have health benefits when consumed in adequate amounts. Human body contains both good and bad bacterias. These good bacteria are referred to as probiotics.
• Inside the human body, they can live in the gut (mainly),  mouth, vagina, urinary tract, skin, and lungs.
• Probiotics help in lowering cholesterol but are not based on fiber.
• Probiotics help to incorporate cholesterol into cells, and adjust the microbiome of the gut to favor elimination of cholesterol via the feces.

Red yeast rice:

• Red yeast rice is a type of fermented rice that is produced using specific species of mold, Monascus ruber or Monascus purpureus (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source).
• It’s been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries for its powerful health-promoting properties.
• Red yeast rice contains the compound monacolin K — the same active ingredient found in prescription cholesterol-lowering medications like lovastatin (2Trusted Source).
• For this reason, it’s often used as a cost-effective alternative to pricey medications to help reduce cholesterol levels and support heart health.

6. Human-led climate impact rapidly cooling upper atmosphere even as lower atmosphere warms

Subject: Geography

Section: Physical geo

Context:

• The Earth’s upper atmosphere, called stratosphere, has been dramatically cooling in response to human-induced climate change since 1986, according to a recent study. This is in complete contrast to the effects on the lowermost part of the atmosphere, the troposphere.

Details of the study:

• Temperatures in the stratosphere were 12 to 15 times greater than what would have occurred naturally, without human influence.
• The greenhouse gasses released from human activities led to a mean cooling of about 1.8 to 2.2 degrees Celsius in the middle and upper stratosphere globally from 1986-2022.
• Natural variations include changes in solar activity, volcanic activities and climate patterns such as El Nino and La Nina.
• Another study showed the summer mesosphere (extending 50 to 85 km above Earth’s surface, sitting above the stratosphere) over Earth’s poles is also cooling.
• The air in the stratosphere and mesosphere is thin and carbon dioxide molecules are not in close proximity. So they do not transfer Earth’s heat.
• Abundance of CO2 molecules in the lower atmosphere leads to trapping of heat.

Atmospheric layers:

Troposphere:

• Extends from Earth’s surface to, on average, about 12 kilometers in height, with its height lower at Earth’s poles and higher at the equator.
• Tasked with holding all the air that plants need for photosynthesis and animals need to breathe, and also contains about 99% of all water vapor and aerosols.
• The temperature in the troposphere also decreases with height. The top of this layer is referred to as tropopause.
• Most of Earth’s weather happens here, and almost all clouds that are generated by weather are found here.
• Most aviation takes place here, including in the transition region between the troposphere and the stratosphere.

Stratosphere:

• Located between approximately 12 and 50 kilometers above Earth’s surface, the stratosphere contains the ozone layer.
• The temperature increases with height. Heat is produced in the process of the formation of Ozone, and this heat is responsible for temperature increase.
• It is nearly cloud- and weather-free, but polar stratospheric clouds (occur mainly at high latitudes during the winter) are sometimes present in its lowest, coldest altitudes.

Mesosphere:

• Located between about 50 and 80 kilometers above Earth’s surface, the mesosphere gets progressively colder with altitude.
• The top of this layer is the coldest place found within the Earth system, with an average temperature of about minus 85 °C (-120 °F).
• Most meteors burn up in this atmospheric layer. Sounding rockets and rocket-powered aircraft can reach the mesosphere.
• The transition boundary which separates the mesosphere from the stratosphere is called the stratopause.

Thermosphere:

• It is located between about 80 and 700 kilometers above Earth’s surface, whose lowest part contains the ionosphere.
• It can reach temperatures up to 2,000 °C (3,600 °F)
• It is both cloud- and water-vapor-free.
• The aurora borealis (Northern lights) and aurora australis (Southern lights) are sometimes seen here.
• The International Space Station (ISS) orbits in the thermosphere.

Ionosphere:

• It is not a distinct layer as the others mentioned above. Instead, the ionosphere overlaps the mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.
• It is an electrically conducting region capable of reflecting radio signals back to Earth.
• The electrically charged atoms and molecules that are formed in this way are called ions, giving the ionosphere its name and endowing this region with some special properties.

Exosphere:

• It is located between about 700 and 10,000 kilometers above Earth’s surface, the exosphere is the highest layer of Earth’s atmosphere and, at its top, merges with the solar wind.
• Molecules found here are of extremely low density, so this layer doesn’t behave like a gas, and particles here escape into space.
• The aurora borealis and aurora australis are sometimes seen in its lowest part.
• Most Earth satellites orbit in this layer.

7. WHO releases first-of-its-kind patient safety rights charter ahead of Patient Safety Day

Subject: IR

Section: International relations

Context:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) released the first-ever patient safety rights charter outlining the core rights of all patients in the context of safety of health care on September 14, 2023.

About the charter:

• The charter also sought to assist governments and other stakeholders to ensure the voices of patients are heard and their right to safe health care is protected.
• The mistakes in patient safety occur due to system or process failures, underlining the importance of  understanding the underlying causes of errors in medical care.
• The WHO unveiled two new resources at the conference for patient safety —  a storytelling toolkit to guide patients and families in sharing their experience related to harmful events within health care and Global Knowledge Sharing Platform that will support the exchange of global resources, best practices, tools and resources related to patient safety.
• The upcoming World Patient Safety Day, to be celebrated on September 17, 2023 this year, aims to emphasize the crucial role of listening to patients, families and caregivers.

Patient safety:

• Patient safety is the avoidance of unintended or unexpected harm to people during the provision of health care.
• Around 1 in every 10 patients is harmed in health care and more than 3 million deaths occur annually due to unsafe care, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• In low-to-middle income countries, as many as 4 in 100 people die from unsafe care.
• Some of the most common sources of patient harm are medication errors, surgical errors, health care-associated infections, sepsis, diagnostic errors and patient falls.
• The Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030 is ina poor state of execution.
• Investing in patient safety positively impacts health outcomes, reduces costs related to patient harm, improves system efficiency, and helps in reassuring communities and restoring their trust in health care systems.

8. Editors Guild of India has right to free speech, says CJI

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Context:

• Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said the Editors Guild of India (EGI) may be right or wrong in its report about “partisan media coverage” of the Manipur violence, but it has a right to free speech to put forth its views in print.

SC grills complainants:

• EGI  visited the manipur post violence for “objective assessment” of the “unethical and ex parte reporting” and published a report manipur violence, against which several FIRs were filed against the President and senior journalists of EGI on the pretext that it violates the section 153A and section 200 of the IPC.
• Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code: promoting enmity between different groups.
• Section 200 IPC: giving false declaration to a court.
• Section 298: deliberate intent to wound religious feelings
• SC said: Media briefings, editorials and reports may go wrong, it is a part of free speech.

Constitutional bearing of Freedom of Expression: 

• Article 19 (a) of the Indian constitution guarantees to every citizen of India the Freedom of speech and expression.
• It is a fundamental Right of the Indian Constitution.

Freedom of press:

• Freedom of press is not specifically mentioned in article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution and what is mentioned there is only freedom of speech and expression.
• In the Constituent Assembly Debates it was made clear by Dr. Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, that no special mention of the freedom of press was necessary at all as the press and an individual or a citizen were the same as far as their right of expression was concerned.

Press Freedom Index & India’s performance:

• In the 2022 edition of the Press Freedom Index which is published by Reporters Without Borders, India ranked at the 150th position, eight positions lower than last year.

Editors Guild of India (EGI):

• Founded in 1978 with the twin objectives of protecting press freedom and for raising the standards of editorial leadership of newspapers and magazines.
• The Editors Guild took up the issues of abuse of press freedom with the Parliament and Executive, and campaigned hard for restoring the press freedom and other freedoms which had been taken away by amendments to the Constitution, executive orders and judicial pronouncements.
• The freedom to report proceedings of Parliament (Feroze Gandhi Act) which was taken away in 1976 was restored.

National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW):

• NFIW is a women’s organisation in India, the women’s wing of the Communist Party of India.
• It was established in 1954 June 4 by several leaders from Mahila Atma Raksha Samiti including Aruna Asaf Ali.
• Annie Raja is the current General Secretary and Aruna Roy is the current president of NFIW.
• It is associated with the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF) (an international organization with the stated goal of working for women’s rights established in 1945).
• HQ: Delhi

9. Why is 2023 so hot? A rare Pacific volcano is among the suspects

Subject: Geography

Section: Physical Geography

Context:

• Scientists say an underwater volcanic eruption off Tonga in the South Pacific last year is majorly responsible for the unusual warming this year.

About the Tonga volcanic eruption

• It is an Undersea Volcanic Eruption consisting of two small uninhabited islands, Hunga-Ha’apai and Hunga-Tonga.
• The Tonga Islands occur along the Ring of Fire—a perimeter of heightened volcanic and seismic activity that encircles the Pacific Ocean basin.
• The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades.
• During events in 2009 and 2014-15, hot jets of magma and steam exploded through the waves, but these eruptions were small, dwarfed in scale when compared to the January 2022 events.
• The eruption in the Polynesian archipelago ejected 150mn-odd tonnes of water vapor into the stratosphere.
  • Water vapor is a natural greenhouse gas, trapping heat as it swirls around the globe. By contrast.
• The eruption also blew about 500,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, which tends to cool the planet. That mix of water and sulfur complicates the volcano’s impact.
• One of the reasons for it being highly explosive is the Fuel-Coolant interaction.

Fuel-Coolant Interaction

• If magma rises into sea water slowly, even at temperatures of about 1200 degrees Celsius, a thin film of steam forms between the magma and water.
• This provides a layer of insulation to allow the outer surface of the magma to cool. But this process doesn’t work when magma is blasted out of the ground full of volcanic gas.
• When magma enters the water rapidly, any steam layers are quickly disrupted, bringing hot magma in direct contact with cold water.
• It is akin to weapons-grade chemical explosions.
• Extremely violent blasts tear the magma apart.
• A chain reaction begins, with new magma fragments exposing fresh hot interior surfaces to water, and the explosions repeat, ultimately jetting out volcanic particles and causing blasts with supersonic speeds.

Impact:

• Huge volcanic eruptions can sometimes cause temporary global cooling as sulfur dioxide is pumped into the stratosphere.
• But in the case of the Tonga eruption, initial satellite measurements indicated the amount of sulfur dioxide released would only have a tiny effect of perhaps 0.01 Celsius global average cooling.
• The eruption altered atmospheric pressure that may have briefly helped clear out the fog in Seattle, in the United States.
• The waves crossed the Pacific ocean.
• The US Geological Survey estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake.

Undersea Volcano:

• The undersea volcanic eruption happens in a volcano which is located under the ocean surface.
• There are an estimated one million undersea volcanoes, and most of them are located near the tectonic plates.
• Apart from lava, these openings also spew out ash.
• These deposit on the ocean’s floor and lead to the formation of sea mounds – underwater mountains that are formed on the ocean floor but do not reach the water surface.

10. Unified Portal for Agricultural Statistics launched

Subject: Govt Schemes

Section: Agriculture

Introduction

• The Unified Portal for Agricultural Statistics (UPAg Portal) has been officially launched in India under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, significantly impacting the country’s agriculture sector.

Launch and Significance

• Official Launch: Professor Ramesh Chand, a member of NITI Aayog, inaugurated the UPAg Portal (www.upag.gov.in) to address governance challenges in India’s agriculture sector.
• Real-Time, Reliable, and Standardized Information
• Reduced Search Costs: Users benefit from reduced search costs and friction when accessing credible, granular, and objective data.

Key Challenges Addressed

• Data Standardization: Centralizes and standardizes diverse agricultural data.
• Verified Data: Provides timely, verified information to policymakers.
• Data Aggregation: Combines data from various sources comprehensively.
• Real-time Connectivity: Offers real-time data access, reducing analysis time.

Key Features of UPAg Portal

• Data Standardization: Standardizes prices, production, area, yield, and trade data, eliminating the need for compilation from multiple sources.
• Data Analysis: Conducts advanced analytics, providing insights into production trends, trade correlations, and consumption patterns, aiding policymaking by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.
• Granular Production Estimates: Generates frequent granular production estimates for swift responses to agricultural crises.
• Commodity Profile Reports: Utilizes algorithms to produce objective commodity profile reports, reducing subjectivity and providing comprehensive insights.
• Plug and Play: Offers user flexibility for report preparation, promoting data-driven decision-making among researchers and stakeholders.

11. From neutrinos and Tb bacteria to quake-resistant buildings: How works of these young scientists have the potential to change the world

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Msc

Introduction:

Earlier this week, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) announced its flagship Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for 2022, after holding it back for a year.

About Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards

• Founded in 1958, the Awards are India’s top science and technology honors.
• Named in honor of renowned Indian scientist Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, a pioneer in chemistry.
• Presented annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to Indian scientists under 45 for exceptional contributions.
• Recognizes achievements in various fields, including physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, engineering, medical, and earth sciences (7 disciplines)
• The rigorous selection process with nominations from peers and experts, followed by expert committee evaluation.