Daily Prelims Notes 23 April 2021

April 23, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

23 April 2021

Table Of Contents

Subject : Defence

Context : The Indian Navy dispatched its deep submergence rescue vessel (DSRV) from Visakhapatnam to support the Indonesian Navy in the search and rescue efforts for its submarine KRI Nanggala that went missing with 53 personnel aboard.

Concept :

KRI Nanggala (402) is a diesel-electric attack submarine of the Indonesian Navy, one of two Cakra-class submarines (Type 209 design).
On 21 April 2021, it went missing in deep waters during a SUT torpedo drill north of Bali.
The boat is named after the Nanggala, a divine and powerful short spear that was owned by PrabuBaladewa (the elder brother of Kresna), a recurring character in wayang puppet theatre.

Deep submergence rescue vessel (DSRV)

India is amongst the few countries in the world capable of undertaking search and rescue of a disabled submarine through a DSRV.
Indian Navy’s DSRV system can locate a submarine up to 1,000-metre depth utilising its state-of-the-art side scan sonar and remotely operated vehicle.
After the submarine is successfully located, another sub module of DSRV — the submarine rescue vehicle (SRV) — links with the submarine to rescue the trapped personnel. The SRV can also be used to provide emergency supplies to the submarine.

2. ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Subject : International Relations

Context : US President Joe Biden is preparing to formally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire that occurred more than a century ago.

Concept :

While Turkey disagrees, the consensus among historians is that during the Armenian Genocide, between 1915 to 1922, in the First World War, thousands of Armenians perished due to killings, starvation and disease, when they were deported by Ottoman Turks from eastern Anatolia.
It is difficult to estimate the total number of Armenians who died during the genocide, but the Armenian diaspora says that approximately 1.5 million died.
Some researchers have asserted and drawn comparisons between the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide and this acknowledgement or wider acknowledgement of it in the international community may be unwelcome and unpalatable for Turkey.
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is marked annually on April 24.

Armenia

Armenia is a landlocked country located in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.
It is a part of the Caucasus region; and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the Lachin corridor under a Russian peacekeeping force, and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
Its Capital is Yerevan.

3. SPECIAL TASK FORCE TO MONITOR J&K GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

Subject : Governance

Context : The J&K government constituted a Special Task Force (STF) for identifying and scrutinising the government employees who are involved in any cases related to posing threat to the security or anti-national activities.

Concept :

The STF will have the ADGP, (CID), J&K, as its chairman and the IGP, representatives of the Home Department; Department of Law, Justice Member and Parliamentary Affairs and the concerned department as its members.
The STF will scrutinise cases of employees suspected of activities requiring action under Article 311(2)(C) of the Constitution.
The STF has been tasked to compile records of such employees and engage with other members of the Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) for identifying such other employees.
The move comes as a number of government employees in the past were found expressing their political opinion in public space on the Kashmir conflict.

Provision of Article 311 of the Constitution

The special task force has been passed under provisions of Article 311(2) (C) of the Constitution.
It gives the administration power to terminate an employee without constituting an inquiry against him or her on grounds of security of the State.

Article 311 provides two safeguards to civil servants against any arbitrary dismissal from their posts:

A civil servant cannot be dismissed or removed by an authority subordinate to that by which he was appointed.
A civil servant cannot be dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except after an inquiry in which he has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges.
The above two safeguards are available only to the members of the civil services of the Centre, the all-India services, the civil services of a state or to persons holding civil posts under the Centre or a state.
It is not available to the members of defence services or persons holding military posts.

The second safeguard of holding inquiry is not available in the following three cases:

Where a civil servant is dismissed or removed or reduced in rank on the ground of conduct which has led to his conviction on a criminal charge; or
Where the authority empowered to dismiss or remove a civil servant or to reduce him in rank is satisfied that for some reason (to be recorded in writing), it is not reasonably practicable to hold such inquiry; or
Where the president or the governor is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the state, it is not expedient to hold such inquiry.

4. LEGAL STATUS OF CRYPTOCURRENCY

Subject : Governance

Context : Recently, the uncertainty over the legal status of cryptocurrencies is unnerving Indian investors who hold around $1.5 billion (Rs 10,000 crore) in digital currencies.

Concept :

Cryptocurrency Law proposed by RBI

The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 will prohibit all private cryptocurrencies.
It will lay down the regulatory framework for the launch of an “official digital currency”.
A 3-6 month exit period prior to banning the trading, mining and issuing of cryptos has been discussed in inter-ministerial discussions regarding the law.
The high-power inter-ministerial committee has previously recommended a ban on all private cryptocurrencies.
The sources have said that the proposed law will be prospective, even though declarations of holdings and transactions may be sought retrospectively.

Digital Currency of RBI

The RBI had said central banks are exploring DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) for application in improving financial market infrastructure.
The RBI is considering DLT as a potential technological solution in implementing central bank digital currency (CBDC).
A recent survey of central banks conducted by the Bank for International Settlements found that some 80 per cent of the 66 responding central banks have started projects to explore the use of CBDC in some form.
The RBI had expressed concern over other cryptocurrencies, saying they can be used for illegal activities, and poses a threat to financial stability.

What is Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)?

The central banks are keen on designing their own network of digital payments by officially issuing what is called a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in order to prevent extreme decoupling.
It is a legal tender and liability of a nation’s central bank in the digital form.
It is denominated in a sovereign currency and appears on the balance sheet of a nation’s central bank.
It is a digital currency which can be converted/exchanged at par with similarly denominated cash and traditional central bank deposits of a nation.
The novelty of such general-purpose CBDCs lies in its character of being legal tender.

5. INDIA US CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVE

Subject : International Relations

Context: Recently, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden launched the India-US Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate hosted by the US.

Concept :

India has made an ambitious commitment of achieving the renewable energy target of 450 gigahertz by 2030.
The Nationally Defined Contributions (NDCs) are each country’s goals towards achieving the Paris Agreement target of limiting rising temperatures to less than 2 degrees Celsius.
The US pledged to cut emissions by 50 to 52 per cent of its 2005 levels by 2030 which is double the 2015 goal set by former President Barack Obama.

India-US Clean Energy Initiative

It will help in mobilising investments, demonstrate clean technologies, and enable green collaborations.
It will proceed along two main tracks i.e. the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership and the Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue, which will build on and subsume a range of existing processes.
India and the United States aim to demonstrate how the world can align swift climate action with inclusive and resilient economic development.

About Leaders’ Summit on Climate

It is a two-day virtual conference hosted by United States.
It will serve as an opportunity to release their countries climate ambition and how they will take action to reduce emissions.

The main objectives of this summit are:

Get the world’s major economies to reduce emission in this decade while also getting the public and private sector involvement.
Show how climate action can have economic and social benefits and build new businesses and industries.
Using the technology available to adapt to climate change but also reduce emissions.
The world’s top five highest emitters are China, The United States, India, Russia and Japan.

6. SANKHA GHOSH

Subject : Culture

Context : Eminent Bengali poet Shankha Ghosh passed after testing positive for COVID-19. Ghosh was 89.

Concept :

Considered to be an authority on Rabindranath Tagore, his famous works include AdimLata – Gulmomay and MurkhaBaroSamajik Nay, among other books.
The poet was vocal about contemporary issues and was also seen at the forefront during many political upheavals in the state including the Nandigram violence.
In 2011, he was awarded Padma Bhushan and in 2016 he received the Jnanpith Award. In 1977, he received the SahityaAkademi Award for his book ‘BabarerPrarthana‘.

7. SLBC

Subject : Governance

Context : Owing to a rise in infection among staff, the State-Level Bankers’ Committee is considering limiting operations – from 10 am to 2pm.

Concept :

State Level Bankers’ Committee, set-up as per the Lead Bank Scheme of the Reserve Bank of India, is the highest body of bankers in the state.
The committee meets once a quarter. In addition to reviewing the activities of the institutional lending, the quarterly meetings discuss various issues concerning the economic development of the state, where banks play a pivotal role.
The meetings aim at finding solution to the various problems confronting the state. The forum takes the lead in initiating, streamlining and accelerating the process of development in close co-ordination with various government departments, Reserve Bank of India, NABARD and other developmental agencies.
The quarterly meetings are attended by top-level functionaries of member institutions of SLBC, thereby enabling them for meaningful and purposeful discussions on various matters aimed at solving the various issues.

8. NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION

Subject : Environment

Context : India will soon join 15 other countries in the hydrogen club as it prepares to launch the National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHEM)

Concept :

National Hydrogen Energy Mission

This mission will emphasise hydrogen from clean sources.
It also envisages linking the country’s growing renewable energy capacity with the hydrogen economy.
India’s target for 2022 for renewable energy generation is 175 GW and this mission is expected to bolster the process.

The renewable energy target for 2030 is 450 GW.

The country has set to decarbonise by 2050.

Using hydrogen will serve the twin purposes of achieving India’s emission commitments under the Paris Agreement and reducing the import dependence on fossil fuels.
The end-users of hydrogen energy are the transportation sector, chemical industry and steel sector.
These sectors contribute to 1/3rd of all greenhouse gas emissions because of their using fossil fuels.
Replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen in these sectors will help reduce GHGs in a big way.

Hydrogen:

Hydrogen is the lightest and first element on the periodic table. Since the weight of hydrogen is less than air, it rises in the atmosphere and is therefore rarely found in its pure form, H2.
At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel burned with oxygen. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. It is also used as a fuel for spacecraft propulsion.

Type of Hydrogen:

Grey Hydrogen:

Constitutes India’s bulk Production.
Extracted from hydrocarbons (fossil fuels, natural gas).
By product: CO2

Blue Hydrogen:

Sourced from fossil fuels.
By product: CO, CO2
By products are Captured and Stored, so better than gey hydrogen.

Green Hydrogen:

Generated from renewable energy (like Solar, Wind).
Electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
By Products : Water, Water Vapor