Daily Prelims Notes 17 November 2020

November 17, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject : Economy

Context : The government has received multiple expressions of interest (EoIs) for the strategic sale of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), the Finance Ministry said.

Concept :

Disinvestment means sale or liquidation of assets by the government, usually Central and state public sector enterprises, projects, or other fixed assets.
The government undertakes disinvestment to reduce the fiscal burden on the exchequer, or to raise money for meeting specific needs, such as to bridge the revenue shortfall from other regular sources.
Strategic disinvestment is the transfer of the ownership and control of a public sector entity to some other entity (mostly to a private sector entity).
Unlike the simple disinvestment, strategic sale implies a kind of privatization.
The disinvestment commission defines strategic sale as the sale of a substantial portion of the Government shareholding of a central public sector enterprises (CPSE) of upto 50%, or such higher percentage as the competent authority may determine, along with transfer of management control.
Strategic disinvestment in India has been guided by the basic economic principle that the government should not be in the business to engage itself in manufacturing/producing goods and services in sectors where competitive markets have come of age.
The economic potential of such entities may be better discovered in the hands of the strategic investors due to various factors, e.g. infusion of capital, technology up-gradation and efficient management practices etc.

2. VULTURE CONSERVATION

Subject : Environment

Context : Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change launched a Vulture Action Plan 2020-25 for the conservation of vultures in the country.

Concept :

While the ministry has been carrying out a conservation project for vultures since 2006, the plan is to now extend the project to 2025 to not just halt the decline but to actively increase the vulture numbers in India.
There are nine recorded species of vultures in India — the Oriental white-backed, long-billed, slender-billed, Himalayan, red-headed, Egyptian, bearded, cinereous and the Eurasian Griffon.

Background :

The crash in vulture populations came into limelight in the mid-90s, and in 2004 the cause of the crash was established as diclofenac used to treat pain and inflammatory diseases such as gout — in carcasses that vultures would feed off.
The MoEFCC released the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2006 with the DCGI banning the veterinary use of diclofenac in the same year and the decline of the vulture population being arrested by 2011.

3. MODERNA VACCINE

Subject : Science & tech

Context : After Pfizer, US biotech company Moderna said on Monday that its candidate for Covid-19 vaccine is nearly 95% effective in preventing the viral disease.

Concept :

As per the company current projections, it will produce 20 million of Covid-19 vaccines doses by the end of this year.
Moderna data also showed the vaccine was capable of helping prevent severe cases of Covid-19, and it represented volunteers from diverse communities.
The Indian government is in dialogue with both domestic and international vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer, Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila for their Covid-19 vaccine candidate in terms of safety, immunogenicity and efficacy.

mRNA 123 :

mRNA-1273 is the working name of Moderna’s vaccine. It is currently under the aegis of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The mRNA means the messenger RNA. This carries the carries the genetic formula for the coding of a specific protein.
The mRNA is a molecule that genetically encodes a set of instructions, based on which cells make proteins and send them to various parts of the body.
Vaccines based on mRNA technology take advantage of normal biological processes of the body to create the desired therapeutic effect.

4. CREW 1 MISSION

Subject : Science & tech

Context : As part of NASA’s first commercial human spacecraft system in history, a crew of four astronauts is now en route to the International Space Station (ISS) on a 27-hour flight, onboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft called Resilience.

Concept :

Crew-1 is the first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS and is also the first of the three such flights scheduled over the course of 2020-21.
Crew-1 is the first of six crewed missions that NASA and SpaceX will operate as part of the Commercial Crew Program, whose objective is to make access to space easier in terms of cost.
Thus, cargo and crew can be easily transported to and from the ISS, enabling greater scientific research.
The programme is a way to reduce the cost of going to space for agencies such as NASA and also makes it possible for any individual to buy a ticket on a commercial rocket.

Why is the mission significant?

The Crew-1 mission marks many firsts for NASA and SpaceX including it being the first flight of the NASA-certified commercial system.
While the Crew Dragon spacecraft is capable of staying in orbit for a period of 210 days, it will return in spring 2021, making it the longest human space mission launched from the US.
The spacecraft will also deliver over 500 pounds of cargo, science hardware and experiments to the ISS.
Once the mission is over, Crew-1 astronauts will board Crew Dragon, which will autonomously undock and depart the space station after which it will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
Crew Dragon is a student-designed experiment titled, “Genes in Space-7” that aims to understand how spaceflight affects brain function.
Other experiments include research that will enable scientists to understand the physical interactions on liquid, rocks and microorganisms, another experiment on the role of microgravity on human health and how microgravity affects heart tissue.

5. HEAVY FUEL OIL BAN

Subject : Environment

Context : As the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting gets underway this week, NGOs are calling for the body to rethink its draft heavy fuel oil ban, saying it doesn’t do enough to protect the Arctic.

Concept :

An agreement on the draft text of a ban on heavy fuel oil in the Arctic was reached at the IMO’s sub-committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) meeting.
The agreement sets out a ban on heavy fuel oil from July 1, 2024, but with certain exemptions allowed, including waivers for Arctic coastal state flagged ships until July 1, 2029.
Other exemptions in the draft text include ships involved in search and rescue operations, or ships involved in oil spill preparedness and response.
The NGOs say the number of exemptions set out in the draft text, and the length of time the exemptions would be in place, were an unacceptable risk to the fragile Arctic ecosystem.

Heavy Fuel Oil :

Heavy fuel oil (HFO) is the term used to describe the viscous, low-cost fuels still mainly used in international shipping.
HFO’s consistency would make clean up after a potential spill extremely complex in the Arctic says numerous reports as well as Arctic Indigenous organizations.
This fuel is slower to evaporate than other fuels, which makes it more prone to getting trapped in ice, making recovery a challenge, especially in the Canadian Arctic, a region with very little infrastructure and response capabilities.
HFO also produces black carbon.
Black carbon is made up of fine matter produced by incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels, which when deposited on ice and snow, absorbs heat instead of reflecting heat, contributing to global warming.

6. RAMSAR CONVENTION

Subject : Environment

Context : India has added two more Ramsar sites. They are Lonar lake in Maharashtra which is the only crater lake of the country while the other is Sur Sarovar, also known as Keetham lake in Agra of Uttar Pradesh.

Concept :

The Ramsar Convention signed on 2nd February, 1971, is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord signed by member countries to preserve the ecological character of their wetlands of international importance.
It is named after Ramsar, the Iranian city where the treaty was signed in 1971, and places chosen for conservation under it are given the tag ‘Ramsar site’.
The aim of the Ramsar list is to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes and benefits.

Recent additions :

Recently, Kabartal in Bihar’s Begusarai district was recognised as a wetland of international importance, the first such wetland in the state, under the Ramsar Convention, according to the Union Environment Ministry.
The Asan Conservation Reserve in Dehradun, the first wetland from Uttarakhand to be recognised by Ramsar convention, was added to the list in October this year.

7. PARLIAMENT SESSION

Subject : Polity

Context : The winter session of Parliament, which usually commences by the last week of November, is unlikely to be held due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi.

Concept :

Going by parliamentary records, there had been only three instances — in 1975, 1979 and 1984 — when the winter session was called off.
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs meets to decide the dates of the session and an announcement has to be made giving the members at least two weeks’ notice.
So far, the committee has not met, and the government has a plan to combine the Budget session, which begins usually on February 1, and the winter session.
The Constitution mandates there should not be a gap of six months or more between two sessions. With the monsoon session held in September, the government has no constitutional compulsion to hold a winter session.
The monsoon session that was called on September 14 was supposed to go on till October 1 with 18 sittings. It was cut short by eight days and concluded on September 24. The previous Budget session too ended abruptly on March 23 for a similar reason.

8. WPI

Subject : Economy

Context : India’s wholesale price inflation quickened to the highest level in eight months, reaching 1.48% in October 2020 as per provisional data, compared with 0% in October 2019 and 1.32% in September this year.

Concept :

Wholesale Price Index

It is the most widely used inflation indicator in India.
Published by the Office of Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
All transactions at the first point of bulk sale in the domestic market are included.
Major criticism for this index is that the general public does not buy products at wholesale price.
The base year of All-India WPI has been revised from 2004-05 to 2011-12 in 2017.

9. DRUG RESISTANT TB

Subject : Health

Context : Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has called on governments to accelerate testing, treatment, and prevention for TB, and for donors to provide financial support to ensure increased access to new medical tools for diagnosing and treating millions with this disease

Concept :

A report released on Monday by MSF and the Stop TB Partnership — Step Up for TB — surveys 37 high TB-burden countries and shows that critical medical innovations are reaching far fewer people who urgently need them, because many countries continue to lag in getting their policies in line with new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
Experts said that India is still following a very conservative approach regarding the new medicines for drug resistant TB, putting lives of patients including children in danger.
Scaling up of new DR-TB drugs — Bedaquiline and Delamanid — is needed even more during Covid-19.

10. KOCHI MANGALURU PIPELINE

Subject : Economy

Context : The much-delayed Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline project is finally ready for commissioning as GAIL India has completed the project.

Concept :

The 444-km-long natural gas pipeline was launched in 2009 at an estimated cost of ₹2,915 crore and was to be commissioned in 2014.
But opposition with regard to safety and on commercial grounds, wherein the land price was the main hurdle, had resulted in the project cost nearly doubling to over ₹5,750 crore.
With the commissioning of the pipeline, gas demand in Kerala will touch 80-90 million cubic metres per annum from 60 million cubic metres now.
Apart from huge environmental gains, the State can gain monetarily as it can get up to ₹1,000 crore by way of taxes alone.

Major Gas Pipeline Projects

Jagdishpur – Haldia/Bokaro – Dhamra Pipeline Project (JHBDPL) & Barauni- Guwahati Pipeline project (BGPL): It is supporting the revival of 3 Fertilizer Plants namely located at Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindri, and new Fertilizer Unit at Durgapur.
North East Region (NER) Gas Grid: A joint venture of five (05) oil and gas CPSEs i.e. GAIL, IOCL, OIL, ONGC, and NRL named as “Indradhanush Gas Grid Ltd” (IGGL) has been entrusted to develop trunk pipeline connectivity in all North Eastern States.
Kochi-Koottanad- Bangalore-Mangalore (Ph-II) Pipeline Project (KKBMPL)
Ennore-Thiruvallur-Bangalore-Nagapattinum– Madurai – Tuticorin Natural gas pipeline (ETBNMTPL): This pipeline will connect new Ennore LNG Terminal with various demand centers in the region.

Source : The Hindu

Additional Facts :

India’s third tranche of stimulus measures should support economic rebound over the coming quarters but the actual fiscal impact is difficult to ascertain, Fitch Solutions said on Monday.
Widespread snowfall in the past 24 hours in the upper reaches of Kashmir resulted in the closure of three main highways on Monday, and disconnected the Valley’s surface routes with the rest of the country.
The 15th Finance Commission on Monday submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi its report on the ratio in which tax is to be divided between the Centre and the States over the next five years. The report ‘Finance Commission in COVID Times’ will be submitted to Finance Minister.
Abiy has said it would be a limited campaign focusing on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the militia-cum-political party that runs the northern region. However, almost two weeks into the conflict, Ethiopia risks falling into an ethnic civil war with regional implications.
The TPLF was founded in 1975 as a resistance army of the Tigrayan people against the military dictatorship, which was called the Derg.
“Increase in core inflation suggests improvement in demand conditions, which have improved after [the] COVID-related lockdown was lifted. However, it will be too early to term this as a general recovery; a large part of this is due to festival related demand,” said Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist at the rating firm.